One of the biggest games in development right now is Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, a spiritual successor to the beloved RPGs set long before any of the movies. Currently, this game is being directed by Casey Hudson, the former director of Knights of the Old Republic when it was developed at studio BioWare. Recent news has seen Hudson recruit a variety of people for the game’s leadership team, showing lots of experience behind the creation of this anticipated title.
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The mechanics and gameplay of Fate of the Old Republic are a complete mystery right now, and are likely to stay that way for a long time. Right now, the game’s RPG systems could be incredibly traditional to the original Old Republic titles, or take a deviation into action similar to how Final Fantasy 7 Remake was made. However, based on the developers coming into Fate of the Old Republic‘s production, there are several promising directions players can look forward to.
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic Has Announced Its Leadership Team Of Seasoned Developers
The newly formed Arcanaut Studios, the team assembled by Casey Hudson for Fate of the Old Republic, has just expanded its roster with a myriad of veteran creators. Many of the people involved are, unsurprisingly, former colleagues of Hudson from BioWare. Talented staff from what many players consider the “golden age” of BioWare’s success have joined Hudson’s efforts, leading to these developers in key roles:
- Dan Fessenden – Senior Technical Designer
- Malanie Faulknor – Director of External Development
- Caroline Livingstone – Director of Production and Performance
- Ryan Hoyle – Chief Technology Officer
- Pascal Blanché – Art Director
Individuals like Hoyle and Fessenden are core leaders from the original Knights of the Old Republic, bringing experience from the original game to the successor’s development. Others like Livingstone also come from that time of BioWare games, having worked on additional celebrated works like the first Dragon Age and Neverwinter Nights. Plenty of staff from the Mass Effect series are here too, with Fessenden, Faulknor, Livingstone, and Royle having worked on various parts of the trilogy during their time at BioWare.
The state of the Mass Effect series now doesn’t reflect the work of these individuals, as they were responsible for much of the beloved parts of those sci-fi epics. Extensive RPG experience comes from other places too, with Blanché having contributed to the art of games like Myst IV: Revelation, Runescape, and Far Cry: New Dawn over the years. Although many fans are interested to see who is leading the writing efforts behind a new Old Republic game, this crew of talented developers are sure to bring tons of experience into this new Star Wars project.
Creators For This Game Have Backgrounds In Several Of BioWare’s Biggest Hits
The backgrounds of Arcanaut’s team members already gives them the knowledge to work in the Old Republic timeline of Star Wars, as many of them took part in creating it. Although the MMO and sequel to the original game took that era of Star Wars in new directions, leaders like Fessenden and Livingstone have personal experience in bringing the first Knights of the Old Republic to life, creating the unique sci-fi setting’s aesthetic from a visual and technical standpoint.
The presence of original developers doesn’t narrow the game’s focus too much though, as the broader sci-fi experience of other team members is apparent through their connections to Mass Effect. Specifically, while Hoyle was present throughout all of the triology’s games, others like Livingstone and Fessenden were partially responsible for the first Mass Effect, once again highlighting experience in bringing a sci-fi universe to life with no prior history. Members like Faulknor and their work on Mass Effect 3 shows knowledge of how to work with successive games, especially by getting enthusiastic creators to help on the project externally.
Experience from the Dragon Age and other fantasy series might also help this project take from different inspirations, instead of falling into tropes that sci-fi games tend to do. Star Wars itself is incredibly at risk of repeating itself, so having different creators from various backgrounds helps diversify its direction. That being said, the leadership behind Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic suggests a strong group of people not only good at working with each other, but also a collection of people deeply familiar with what made the series so iconic.
Do you trust the leadership team behind Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic to live up to the older RPGs? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!
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