{"id":9358,"date":"2026-05-15T13:39:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T10:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=9358"},"modified":"2026-05-15T16:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T13:01:12","slug":"star-wars-the-old-republic-director-james-ohlen-discusses-bioware-exit-after-ea-killed-new-republic-reboot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/05\/15\/star-wars-the-old-republic-director-james-ohlen-discusses-bioware-exit-after-ea-killed-new-republic-reboot\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Wars: The Old Republic Director James Ohlen Discusses BioWare Exit After EA Killed New Republic Reboot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">James Ohlen, the former director of BioWare MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, has discussed his exit from the storied RPG maker in 2018 \u2014 after an attempt to reboot the game that ended up squashed by publisher EA.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Ohlen was a BioWare veteran of 22 years, with a string of high profile credits on BioWare classics such as Baldur&#8217;s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In more recent times, Ohlen led Archetype Entertainment, a studio staffed by several former BioWare veterans making big budget Mass Effect-like Exodus, a huge project starring Matthew McConaughey that will be eight years in the making by the time of its release in 2027.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Last year, Ohlen also moved on from Archetype \u2014 and now, he&#8217;s given a wide-ranging interview on his various departures, discussing in detail the effects of burnout he has felt over his long career in video games, as well as his long-scrapped plan to reboot Star Wars: The Old Republic under a new guise.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I always told everybody I should never be the head of a studio because it&#8217;ll kill me,&#8221; Ohlen told PC Gamer, talking of his more recent departure from Archetype. &#8220;And it nearly killed me. It was six years of nearly killing me.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I was running on fumes, and it was hurting my health, and my personal life, and everything. I just needed to step away,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;As a creative you care about everything so much, and then as the head of the studio, you have to be cutting the baby in half all the time, and having people attack your vision constantly. I definitely wouldn&#8217;t put myself in that situation again; that&#8217;s not a healthy place to be.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Star Wars: A History of the Galaxy From the Old Republic to the First Order<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Click through for a quick breakdown of the political power struggle in the Star Wars universe, from the heyday of the Old Republic all the way through the Rise of the First Order.\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2021719738 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/star-wars-the-old-republic-director-james-ohlen-discusses-bioware-exit-after-ea-killed-new-republic-reboot.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Before Archetype, Ohlen rose through the ranks quickly at BioWare (&#8220;the last time I was truly in love with my job,&#8221; he claimed), and is credited as lead designer on beloved BioWare single-player RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This then led to BioWare&#8217;s bosses Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk asking if he would oversee a new BioWare Austin studio tasked with making the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I was like, &#8216;I hate massive multiplayer games. But all right, I&#8217;ll do it,'&#8221; Ohlen said \u2014 before realizing it would be a &#8220;never-ending&#8221; project where he frequently had to spend time simply ensuring &#8220;big ego designers&#8230; didn&#8217;t kill each other.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I&#8217;m just not someone who can manage hundreds and hundreds of people to go in a different direction,&#8221; he said of The Old Republic&#8217;s early days. &#8220;Everyone wants to build [World of Warcraft] in space, and it&#8217;s my job to say no, we&#8217;re making [something different], and I wasn&#8217;t able to do that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Ohlen ultimately realized he would move on after what sounds like a lengthy and extremely difficult pitch to Lucasfilm and EA for a full reboot of the game, which would see it renamed Star Wars: The New Republic. Ohlen spent half a year on a plan before getting the greenlight from former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, as well as Star Wars creative boss Dave Filoni. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;He was like, &#8216;If you set it a couple hundred years before the fall of the Republic, we can have a tie in,'&#8221; Ohlen recalled of Filoni&#8217;s eventual agreement. (It&#8217;s a time period that sounds not dissimilar to Lucasfilm&#8217;s The High Republic, which the company has since mined for its storytelling potential.)<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I remember I got super excited because the big challenge was Patrick S\u00f6derlund [former EA chief design officer, who now heads up Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios],&#8221; Ohlen said next. &#8220;I think [he&#8217;s] great but hates Star Wars: The Old Republic. And I convinced him&#8230; it was one of the greatest accomplishments of my career.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Every IGN BioWare Game Review<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2021719738 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/star-wars-the-old-republic-director-james-ohlen-discusses-bioware-exit-after-ea-killed-new-republic-reboot.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Unfortunately, everything then came crashing down. While S\u00f6derlund was sold, EA&#8217;s board of directors was not.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;[They] remembered spending $300 million,&#8221; Ohlen said, referring to The Old Republic&#8217;s high development costs. &#8220;They&#8217;re like, &#8216;Why the fuck are we gonna spend a bunch more?'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;That was the beginning of the end for me,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;The only way you get through life is by having empathy for everybody, including people that are causing you pain. I was thinking of it through the lens of EA. And I&#8217;m like, there&#8217;s no way I&#8217;m ever going to win in this. It just doesn&#8217;t make sense to empower someone like me. If I was there, I wouldn&#8217;t. So I gotta get out. This is just not for me.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I would tell people, I&#8217;m actually a highly paid, completely useless person. It&#8217;s just that everyone thinks that I&#8217;m super useful because of my reputation. No one seems to be able to tell, except me. There&#8217;s research that shows that when you just feel like you&#8217;re not accomplishing anything, it&#8217;s actually the biggest thing to bring about burnout.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;My wife was like, &#8216;But you could have ridden it out. Don&#8217;t lots of execs do that?&#8217; And I&#8217;m like, &#8216;I know, but they&#8217;re not creatives. They enjoy the politics, and I don&#8217;t blame them. But that&#8217;s not what I like.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Ohlen is now in the middle of authoring various RPG adventure books, working alongside his former Archetype and BioWare colleague Jesse Sky (who is now Exodus&#8217; creative director). The promising-looking Exodus, meanwhile, is on track to finally release next year, and scratch the Mass Effect itch for many BioWare fans of old.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Tom Phillips is IGN&#8217;s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky <\/em>@tomphillipseg.bsky.social<\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/star-wars-the-old-republic-director-james-ohlen-discusses-bioware-exit-after-ea-killed-new-republic-reboot.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/star-wars-the-old-republic-director-james-ohlen-discusses-bioware-exit-after-ea-killed-new-republic-reboot.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/star-wars-the-old-republic-director-james-ohlen-discusses-bioware-exit-after-ea-killed-new-republic-reboot.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/star-wars-the-old-republic-director-james-ohlen-discusses-bioware-exit-after-ea-killed-new-republic-reboot.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-9358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9360,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9358\/revisions\/9360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}