After 12 years since the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR), BioWare will be transferring the game’s development to third-party studio Broadsword to shift its focus to other franchises, namely Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
BioWare confirmed in a blog post on June 27 that Broadsword and the current SWTOR team will be joining forces to continue developing and enhancing the game.
“I’ve been working closely with Keith Kanneg, who leads the SWTOR team, to give the game and the team the best opportunity to grow and evolve,” BioWare general manager Gary McKay said. “And so, while EA will remain SWTOR’s publisher, development of the game will move to our partner and friends at Broadsword, a boutique studio with expertise in managing online games.”
McKay, however, also spoke about the possibility of layoffs since the game will now be handled by a new developer. “This is the hardest part of this transition, and these decisions were not made lightly,” he said. “We are of course doing everything we can to support the affected team members, who have an opportunity to find new roles within EA.” He also clarified that the company will do everything to “support the affected team members.”
The GM ended BioWare’s statement by giving a glimpse of what games the company will focus on moving forward. This includes titles for Mass Effect and Dragon Age, both of which are some of the company’s most renowned and established franchises.
McKay said Mass Effect is already in pre-production in terms of “bringing the deep franchise history forward in a spectacular new way.” Dragon Age, on the other hand, will continue to undergo plans as BioWare will “build, polish, and tune an exceptional experience” for the franchise.
