Drew Karpyshn Joins Wizards of the Coast’s Video Game Studio, Archetype Entertainment
Drew Karpyshn, lead writer for critically acclaimed action-RPGs such as Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, is joining Archetype Entertainment. Archetype is a video game studio that is run by Wizards of the Coast.
Karpyshyn announced his new position through a post on his personal website. Archetype Entertainment, headed by James Ohlen, former senior creative director for BioWare, is bringing Karpyshyn on as a lead writer.
This isn’t Karpyshyn’s first time working with Wizards of the Coast though. The company actually published his first novel.
Karpyshyn’s post compares his new job to the early days of his career in video games.
“The feel in the studio reminds me of my early days at BioWare; I can feel the magic in the air.”
The writer explains that BioWare grew into something that was less creative and more corporate.
“When I started at BioWare, everything was fresh and exciting. It was a dream job – talented people working together to create epic games like Baldur’s Gate, KOTOR, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. But as we grew and became more successful, things changed. We became more corporate. We were less able to make what we loved, and the teams were pushed to create games based on market research rather than our creative instincts and passions. My dream job became just a job, and I lost the enthusiasm and excitement I once had.”
Karpyshyn cannot tell us what games he’s working on at Archetype Entertainment. Expectations are high for the company, given the track record of its employees.
Karpyshyn’s writing career spans a variety of formats and genres. His first work with BioWare was on Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn where he wrote and edited the manual for the game. He’s come a long way since then.
Source: Drew Karpyshyn