Trending Now - EA Halts Bioware's Ambitious Star Wars: the Old Republic Revival

WHO:

Eurogamer - James Ohlen, former lead designer at BioWare, Kathleen Kennedy, former president of Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni, current president of Lucasfilm, Patrick Söderlund, former EA chief design officer.

IGN - James Ohlen, former director of BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic, Matthew McConaughey, actor involved in the game Exodus.

WHAT:

Eurogamer - BioWare had a plan to reboot Star Wars: The Old Republic, referred to as The New Republic, to make it more like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Eurogamer - Ohlen spent six months compiling a design for The New Republic.

Eurogamer - EA's board of directors rejected the reboot due to the original game's $300 million budget.

IGN - Ohlen described his experience at BioWare as leading to burnout, stating, "I was running on fumes, and it was hurting my health, and my personal life, and everything."

IGN - Ohlen's new game studio, Archetype Entertainment, is developing a game titled Exodus, which is set to release in 2027.

WHERE:

Eurogamer - The discussions regarding the reboot took place within EA and Lucasfilm.

WHEN:

Eurogamer - Ohlen worked on the design for The New Republic in 2015.

Eurogamer - Ohlen left BioWare in 2018 after 22 years with the company.

IGN - Exodus is expected to release in 2027.

WHY:

Eurogamer - The reboot was rejected because EA's board remembered the high costs associated with the original game's development.

IGN - Ohlen felt he was in a position where he could not succeed, stating, "there's no way I'm ever going to win in this."

HOW:

Eurogamer - Ohlen created a mock-up trailer to pitch The New Republic to key stakeholders.

IGN - Ohlen described the challenges of managing a large team and ensuring the project did not become similar to World of Warcraft.

(UPDATED May 15, 2026 19:27 UTC)

In a significant development, James Ohlen, a former lead designer at BioWare, revealed that he spent six months working on a reboot of Star Wars: The Old Republic, titled The New Republic, which aimed to capture the essence of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Unfortunately, EA's board of directors rejected the reboot due to the hefty $300 million budget associated with the original game, leaving Ohlen feeling burned out and questioning his ability to succeed in such a challenging environment. Now, Ohlen is channeling his creativity into his new studio, Archetype Entertainment, which is set to release a game called Exodus in 2027.