It's the end of an era at BioWare. The words and ideas of Drew Karpyshyn have been a driving force behind some of the studio's most critically and commercially acclaimed games over the years, including the first Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and, most recently, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Now, Karpyshyn is leaving the studio that he was so instrumental in helping to build.
The writer revealed the news on his personal blog, along with his plan to now focus on developing novels, screenplays "and other projects." He says that the parting is a completely amicable one, and that it's "100% my decision."
Karpyshyn is plenty established in the literary world, having publishing multiple novels during his BioWare tenure. His most recent release is the excellent Star Wars: The Old Republic novel, Revan, which nods heavily to fans of the KOTOR games, as you might imagine. Karpyshyn also wrote the three Darth Bane books, chronicling the life of the titular Sith Lord who was responsible for creating the order's so-called "Rule of Two."
Outside of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Karpyshyn wrote three Mass Effect novels as well as one for Baldur's Gate and one set in the Forgotten Realms D&D campaign setting. In addition to his Star Wars and Mass Effect contributions at BioWare, Karpyshyn also worked on the games Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate II. Read more about his departure and future plans at the source link below.
Source: DrewKarpyshyn.com
Comments
Displaying 1–11 of 11
darthnate77
His Darth Bane trilogy was one of my favorite Star Wars EU series. Great storyteller.
qec
I just finished reading Karpyshyn's Darth Bane trilogy and it was pretty great reading. I've bought Revan but haven't had a chance to read it yet. This guy is a great author, hopefully he keeps writing books.
KingGainerXan
I've really enjoyed all his books. Revan really was a great read, even for someone who didn't play KotOR. I'm glad he stayed long enough to 'finish' Mass Effect, though I'm sure they're going to keep making sequels without him (not that they'll be as good...).
Tr4y3r
This shouldn't be at all unexpected. Those who rise to the top will eventually want their independence as well.
bagoferret
Drew Karpyshyn, thank you for everything you have done for the gaming community, i hope your future projects go well
AmericanKing01
Please let him write the Mass Effect movie and other "nerd" movies so Hollywood doesn't screw it up.
Example Steel
Invadersam
Drew was one of the best writers working for Bioware, in my opinion. Hopefully we'll still continue to see his work well into the future.
And if he's thinking about doing screenplays... what about the upcoming Mass Effect movie?
BoydofZINJ
I wish him the best of luck. In the short term, Mass Effect 3 and the current SWTOR has his lines.... Hopefully he is not the writer who thought of: I am Commander Sheppard and this is my favorite store on the Citadel line.
AdamRosenberg
@bigheadzach Wow. To answer your question: every single mention. My bad entirely. I've been reading Drew's books for many, many years and I've always had his name in my head as "Karapshyn." It honestly didn't even dawn on me to spell-check that since (I thought) I was so familiar with his work. Apologies for the error, the fix has been made.
DaBigFatCow
Wow! This is very unfortunate for BioWare; Drew Karpyshyn is an excellent writer. The stories of KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect and TOR are amazing! I have also really enjoyed the Mass Effect books that he wrote. It's sad to see him go, but I guess it's time for him to enter a new chapter of his life. Good luck to you Drew in your future projects!
bigheadzach
How many times can you misspell a dude's name in the same article?
(Unless you don't get to see the image above as you're writing it, in which case I'm just suggesting more attention could have been paid.)
Displaying 1–11 of 11
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