Drew Karpyshyn leaving Bioware

Soeren Kamper Drew Karpyshyn

Last night Drew Karpyshyn tweeted that he is leaving BioWare. This is the second time Drew Karpyshyn is leaving the studio to pursue new ventures.

He served as a senior writer for BioWare’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and lead writer for the first two Mass Effect video games. He joined BioWare in 2000 and wrote most of the scenario and much of the dialogue for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and was one of the lead writers and planners on Jade Empire, as well as working on several games in the Baldur’s Gate series. His next major project was the Mass Effect series of games. His third book, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction was published by Del Rey Ballantine Books in 2006.

You can read more about his decision over at his blog:

I know a lot of you are wondering why I’m doing this. For many people, working at BioWare would be their dream job and they can’t imagine anyone stepping away from it. But it was time for me to move on.

Everyone who works at BioWare pours their heart and soul into the games they are making. It’s creatively demanding and – at times – exhausting. In the past, I’ve managed to juggle outside projects with my work at BioWare, but it always took a toll. And there were always outside projects I had to pass on because they would represent a conflict of interest with BioWare or EA properties.

So I made the decision to step back (again) and focus on my freelance work. I’d love to say more about the novel(s) I’m working on, or my graphic novel project, but those details will have to wait a while. (Yes, I’m using this announcement to tease other future announcements. In marketing, they call that “synergy”.)

But I’m not leaving games entirely. As of Monday, I’m officially working with Fogbank Entertainment and FoxNext Games. I can’t say a lot about what we’re up to yet, but here’s the official Fogbank Entertainment announcement.

Drew Karpyshyn’s blog

Author

  • Smiling man wearing glasses and black shirt

    Soeren Kamper is the founder of StarWars: Gamers and a longtime Star Wars writer, community builder, and gaming journalist with nearly two decades of experience covering Star Wars games and fandom. He began writing about Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2008, later co-founding the SWTOR wiki and founding the SWTOR subreddit, and became an early, active figure in the game’s community. His hands-on involvement led to invitations from BioWare Austin and participation in SWTOR events during the game’s launch era. His work is grounded in long-term franchise knowledge, firsthand gaming experience, and deep roots in the Star Wars community.

Soeren Kamper

Soeren Kamper is the founder of StarWars: Gamers and a longtime Star Wars writer, community builder, and gaming journalist with nearly two decades of experience covering Star Wars games and fandom. He began writing about Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2008, later co-founding the SWTOR wiki and founding the SWTOR subreddit, and became an early, active figure in the game’s community. His hands-on involvement led to invitations from BioWare Austin and participation in SWTOR events during the game’s launch era. His work is grounded in long-term franchise knowledge, firsthand gaming experience, and deep roots in the Star Wars community.