While BioWare’s main focus right now is on its upcoming sci-fi shooter RPG Anthem, the studio also continues to quietly support its long-running MMO project Star Wars: The Old Republic. In many ways, The Old Republic has been a successful endeavor for BioWare, but the game’s former director recently admitted he has one big regret regarding how it turned out, and that regret involves a certain other popular MMO title from Blizzard.
James Ohlen recently announced he was leaving BioWare after having been with the company for roughly 22 years. Shortly after confirming the departure, Ohlen sat down for an interview with Game Informer () in which he discussed his time with BioWare and the various projects he oversaw. Ohlen contributed in some way to many of BioWare’s more well-known titles including Baldur’s Gate and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and he served as game director for Star Wars: The Old Republic back when it was still being developed.
During the interview, Ohlen also confirmed something that fans of the Star Wars: KoTOR series had long suspected: in many ways BioWare had tried to replicate the massive success of World of Warcraft in the way it approached Star Wars: The Old Republic’s development. It was a decision that Ohlen said he ultimately regretted:
“With Star Wars: The Old Republic I wish that I pushed a little bit more toward making it kind of Knights of The [Old] Republic online rather than ‘Star Wars World of Warcraft. A lot of the feedback that we got when Star Wars: The Old Republic came out was, ‘Hey, we wanted Knights of the Old Republic Online,’ something that was more similar to that than a game that was more traditional in the World of Warcraft sense.”
It’s easy to see why Ohlen ultimately wound up having reservations about trying so hard to chase the World of Warcraft money. In many ways, The Old Republic does resemble a sort of Star Wars-themed version of World of Warcraft, down to the bright colorful visuals and strong emphasis on quest-based gameplay. However, shortly after The Old Republic launched with a subscription-based monetization model (again, just like World of Warcraft), it became clear that it wouldn’t be able to sustain that model due to plummeting player numbers. BioWare quickly pivoted to a free-to-play model, a move that allowed The Old Republic’s playerbase to eventually stabilize.
BioWare will no doubt feel the loss of a veteran team member like Ohlen, but the studio has assured fans that it won’t be going away anytime soon, even if Anthem somehow flops.