Wizards of the Coast are entering the video game arena once again with the renaming of its Austin-based studio to Archetype Entertainment. What they're making, however, is much more interesting than you might think.
Screen Rant reports (via ResetEra) that the company behind one of the world's most popular card games is aiming for a shift of strategy in the coming years. Yes, Archetype Entertainment is indeed making a new game for Wizards of the Coast — but it won't be based on either Magic: The Gathering or Dungeons & Dragons.
Instead, this upcoming game is planned to be a science-fiction role-playing game that will launch on multiple platforms. This will be an entirely new universe not based on any existing WOTC source material. Even better, the person they've put in charge has a fair amount of experience with this kind of thing.
Who is Heading Up Archetype Entertainment?
The man put in charge of Archetype Entertainment has a long history of making role-playing games. James Ohlen has quite a few of them under his belt, and many of them have been very well-received.
Here is a list of just some of the games he's worked on as Creative Designer:
- Baldur's Gate
- Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
- Neverwinter Nights
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- Dragon Age: Origins
- Star Wars: The Old Republic
Suffice it to say, this guy knows what he's doing.
Mr. Ohlen had left BioWare in 2018 to start up his own publishing company Arcanum Worlds, but Wizards of the Coast somehow convinced him to head up their Austin-based game studio. Here's what he had to say about it:
Archetype is a chance for us to build the type of roleplaying game that we love to play. Video games are a uniquely interactive medium. They allow us to give the player powerful choices that have real consequences on how the story unfolds.
Wizards of the Coast's games have been pretty hit or miss, so it will be interesting to see if they can come up with something that will really capture people's attention. We're sure to hear more about it in the coming months and years. In the meantime, you can find out more about Archetype Entertainment at its official website.
What kind of game do you think Archetype Entertainment will make? Do you think this new venture will be a success? Let us know in the comments below!
