Science Fiction and Fantasy are the two staples for RPG house BioWare, but it’s spent long hours thinking about moving to something different.
Quick, name a game from Canadian studio BioWare. Was it Baldur’s Gate or Dragon Age? Or perhaps it was Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect? Chances are, you either thought of a fantasy RPG or a sci-fi one – and with good reason, as those are BioWare’s two pillars.
But the storied RPG developer could move onto untrod ground before too long. Speaking with Gamasutra, founder Greg Zeschuk said that internal discussions about how to broaden the appeal of the studio’s games kept coming back to the idea of moving into unfamiliar genres.
As we look forward, that’s something we consider more and more … Initially, I remember, the debates were kind of entertaining. I think our context initially was from a very traditional RPG perspective. So, think of the discussion 10 years ago. Okay, [compare] Baldur’s Gate to current day… You look to where both Dragon Age II and Mass Effect 2 and then [Mass Effect 3] have evolved to, and it’s very, very different.
Zeschuk suggested that one could imagine a “cop drama” set in a similar framework to that of Mass Effect, or alternatively a spy adventure along the same lines. At least that last one would probably be more stable than Alpha Protocol. “Then that starts opening up new platforms into things that are maybe less traditional than we have historically [made].”
Of course, Zeschuk attempted to stave off the inevitable rumor mill. “We’re not confirming anything today, but it’s something we discuss a lot, because one of the things we want to do is really try and broaden our appeal, broaden our reach, sell more units, get more fans.”
Both of BioWare’s major upcoming projects – Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic – are sci-fi, but you can probably bet that there will be another Dragon Age before too long, too. But after that, it seems that the sky is the limit for where we could see BioWare go.
Also, if, at the first part of this article, you say that you first thought of Jade Empire or Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, then A.) congratulations for thinking outside of the box and B.) nobody likes a liar, liar.
