After 12 years, BioWare decides to hand over the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic at Broadsword Studios. Not very surprising news, which has been circulating for some time now, but which marks the end of an era. This does not mean the end of the game, far from it, and EA is still there to edit it. For its part, BioWare will take the opportunity to focus on other projects.
Concretely, this change of hand should not have any adverse consequences on the future of the game. The team of Keith Kanneg, executive producer of SWTOR, will also join Broadsword to continue working on the title. During the transition period, the two studios will work together to overcome upcoming updates. But once done, Broadsword will be completely autonomous, still supported by Lucasfilm Games and EA. All the content already planned will therefore be added to the game, but new content will also be developed later. And in his press release, Keith does not fail to recall it, suggesting that patch 7.4 is in the cards.
“And stay tuned for more details on Game Update 7.4, where players will see the story continue after the events of Old Wounds. And there are even more on the horizon. »
Keith Kanneg, SWTOR Executive Producer, BioWare Blog
And BioWare in all this?
If it’s been 12 years that the studio takes care of its MMORPG as best it can, we can’t say that the last years have been brilliant. The latest extension, Legacy of the Sith, was particularly confusing when it was launched. Supposed to mark the 10th anniversary of the game, it will have been very uneven, but above all poor in content. It’s time for BioWare to move on, leave SWTOR to Broadsword, and above all focus on highly anticipated projects.
“This means a renewed focus on our two key franchises: Dragon Age and Mass Effect. For Dragon Age, we continue to build, refine, and polish an exceptional experience that our fans will love. We look forward to sharing more about it soon. For Mass Effect, we’re continuing pre-production with a team of veteran storytellers who advance the franchise’s deep story in spectacular new ways. »
Gary McKay, Managing Director at BioWare