14 DAY TRIAL // BioWare is certainly a busy company at the moment. It is getting ready to release Dragon Age: Origins on November 3, with a lot of content coming at launch and with promises of more DLC arriving soon after that, complete with a set of tools allowing players to create their own adventures.
Then, it is set to deliver Mass Effect 2 at the beginning of 2010, continuing its space saga role playing series; the studio is also working on creating one of the most ambitious MMO projects to date, Star Wars: The Old Republic. But even though they are busy, the people at BioWare are not excluding the possibility of creating a Jade Empire sequel.
Mike Laidlaw, who is the lead designer working on Dragon Age: Origins, told Strategy Informer that “We will certainly announce it if it's going to be coming out. At this point, Jade Empire is a staff favorite and a lot of us love it, so we'd love to revisit it at some point.” He then played down expectations of an announcement by saying that “Right now, we are very focused on Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2.”
Jade Empire was a bit of an odd beast for BioWare. It was initially released on the Xbox and offered a role playing adventure set in ancient China, built around fighting techniques and a plot some considered to be the best that the company has ever delivered. It has a dedicated following amongst hardcore RPG players thanks to the beautifully designed world and well built combat system.
Taking into account the fact that BioWare no longer has the rights to use the Baldur's Gate license and that it has already developed two new intellectual properties, it would certainly make sense for the studio to take on a game that already has fans and create a series around it.