BioWare

An enterprise specializing in electronic entertainment, known as BioWare, is most famous for its creations in the field of computer roleplaying games. Its primary location is in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, but it also maintains a secondary studio in Austin, Texas, USA, in addition to a third studio located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

History

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which was launched in 2003 for both Microsoft Xbox and PC platforms, represents BioWare's initial foray into the Star Wars universe.

A partnership between BioWare and Pandemic Studios, the developers behind Star Wars: Battlefront and its sequel, Star Wars: Battlefront II, was announced on November 3, 2005 by Elevation Partners, a private equity firm. Although the two now share ownership and collaborate by sharing expertise in game development, each company continues to operate with its own distinct staff and brand identity. Electronic Arts then revealed on October 11, 2007 that it had acquired both studios from Elevation Partners.

For many years, fans speculated and hoped for a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3 created by BioWare, or some other Star Wars project. BioWare representatives usually addressed these rumors by stating that they preferred to work on original intellectual properties (such as Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age: Origins) as opposed to licensed titles. However, in 2007, a collaboration between LucasArts and BioWare was announced to develop a "ground-breaking interactive entertainment product," though specific details were scarce.

In the months that followed, rumors about the development of a new Knights of the Old Republic game continued, fueled by internal leaks from BioWare and LucasArts, as well as the registration of "Star Wars The Old Republic" and "The Old Republic" as trademarks by LucasArts. At the E3 2008 convention, Electronic Arts executive John Riccitello verified that the game Star Wars: The Old Republic would be linked to the Knights of the Old Republic series of games. It was launched in North America and Europe on December 20, 2011.

In June 2023, BioWare transferred the responsibility for maintaining and further developing Star Wars: The Old Republic to Broadsword Online Games after BioWare had managed it for nearly 12 years. The intention was for most of the Old Republic development team at BioWare to move to Broadsword to keep working on the game.

Gameography

Sources

40 Years Later: Lucasfilm Games Starts a New Era on Lucasfilm.com (backup link)
Mando Mania: Black Series Pyke Soldier Revealed, and More! on StarWars.com (backup link)
BioWare To Hand Off Star Wars MMO To Focus On Mass Effect, Dragon Age - Report on GameSpot.com (backup link)
Studio Update - Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ on The Old Republic's official website (backup link)
BioWare Is Officially Handing Off Development Of Star Wars: The Old Republic on GameSpot.com (backup link)

Notes and references

External links