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James Ohlen joined Wizards of the Coast back in 2019 after a 22-year stint at BioWare to create a new IP for Hasbro’s tabletop gaming business. Six years later, after co-founding Archetype Entertainment to a very Mass effect-watching RPG called Exodushe will no longer be the head of the studio when the game eventually releases in 2027.
“At this stage, James felt his work on the game was complete and that the polish and fine-tuning was in good hands with the team,” said Hasbro VP of Communications Abby Hodes told Bloomberg in a statement. She added that Ohlen asked to “shift his creative focus” and would remain an advisor to the company on tabletop gaming.
This is James Ohlen. He was the lead designer on Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and now he’s creating EXODUS.
He has been called the “godfather of Bioware design”. Without James you wouldn’t have seen Baldur’s Gate 3 or any of the… pic.twitter.com/5RwfX4GAGN
— MrHulthen (@mrhulthen) December 16, 2025
Updated with a new trailer during last week’s Game Awards 2025 showcase, ExodusIt praises everything fans loved Mass effectincluding custom relationships with NPCs, but with a new time dilation twist where the impact of choices players make will appear when they return to previous locations decades or even centuries in the future. It’s an expensive-looking game from a brand new studio that got started during the pandemic, which could be one of the reasons why the delayed project is still a few years out from launch.
But Exodus isn’t just the potential start of a new franchise, it’s an entire world that Hasbro wants to use as a springboard for other products. Wizards have one Exodus TTRPG book earlier this year and would no doubt be happy to look at trading card and TV spin-offs if the game eventually becomes a game Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33-like blow.
Bloomberg also reports that Ohlen’s resignation comes with Blizzard veteran and Dreamhaven co-founder Paul Della Bitta becoming head of Wizards’ Digital Ventures division under fellow Blizzard veteran John Hight. There are still many other BioWare veterans at Archetype, including Chad Robertson and Drew Karpyshyn.
