BioWare Did Something Very Rare For The Time: It Took Star Wars Seriously

In what seemed to be an inevitability, Electronic Arts announced the closure of BioWare this week, including the cancellation of its current project, a future iteration in the Mass Effect series. The writing has been on the wall for some time, and EA's recent sale to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) sealed its fate. Much can (and should) be said about BioWare's ability to create fully realized, original worlds like those of Mass Effect and Dragon Age. But to write the developer's epitaph, we also have to recognize the incredible job it did as the steward of one of the most popular franchises in the world. BioWare truly understood Star Wars, down to its very bones, and that knowledge resulted in one of the best Star Wars games of all time. I barely even need to mention that I'm referring to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The hit from BioWare was its breakout success, remembered for its rich RPG mechanics and a twist that felt mind-blowing at the time. Without it, we may not have ever gotten modern classics like The Witcher 3, to say nothing of BioWare's own Mass Effect and Dragon Age titles. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic The creators of Knights of the O…

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