Development on Star Wars: The Old Republic is moving from BioWare to a new studio called Broadsword.
In a statement, BioWare general manager Gary McKay said that "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 says that current content plans around the game remain in place for the future, but that "new features" will come to the game under Broadsword, a company that "will give SWTOR the room to grow and flourish."
- EA says Mass Effect 5 is now BioWare's "full focus" as it shuffles devs to other studios, with some reportedly facing layoffs following Dragon Age: The Veilguard's underperformance
- Dragon Age 2 director acknowledges "really fast rush" behind the RPG's development as the team tried to "jump on the grenade that was being placed in front of BioWare"
The statement confirms a report from earlier this month that SWTOR would be moving to allow BioWare more room to work on Mass Effect and Dragon Age. That lead to concern from fans of the long-running MMO, but senior developers urged them not to panic as details were ironed out.
McKay's statement confirms not only the studio move, but also BioWare's focus on its single-player RPGs. For Dragon Age 4, McKay says that BioWare "continues to build, polish, and tune an exceptional experience." When it comes to Mass Effect 5, he says that that game remains in pre-production "with a core team of veteran storytellers" expanding on the existing franchise lore.
The statement closes with a message from SWTOR executive producer Keith Kanneg, who notes the ongoing success of the MMO, and says that while "no change is easy, [...] it certainly helps that we're all excited about the future of this very special game."
Star Wars: The Old Republic sits firmly on our list of the best MMORPGs.
