Archetype Entertainment revealed its debut project
Exodus. The studio was
established in 2019 as a Wizards of the Coast subsidiary, and according to co-founders
James Ohlen and Chad Robertson, the TTRPG publisher wanted them to give it a chance to step into the science-fiction genre.
Talking to
IGN, Ohlen noted how WOTC has fantasy locked down in Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering. But it lacks a successful sci-fi property, giving Archetype an opportunity to "be that [successful IP], and then lead all kinds of things."
With Mass Effect
being built back up and Halo currently in the wind, there's a niche for new sci-fi properties to step into the triple-A world. Both men view
Exodus as the launching point for a larger franchise they have a hand in creating, which Ohlen openly argued for when initially speaking to WOTC.
"There are some amazing IPs out there right now in the RPG space," Robertson told
Polygon. "10 years from now, we'd love fans to look back and think fondly of what we're building. We'd love to be a titan within that."
To that end,
Exodus is a single-player RPG, but Ohlen also indicated that should things go their way, Archetype hopes to branch out into other genres. "We are just a single-player game for this first iteration. [...] We know multiplayer, but we're keeping our focus on a game about time dilation and big choices."
"We've always viewed [this] as a franchise," added Robertson. "I think like James talked about, there's opportunities there for us to do a lot more after this first iteration."
www.gamedeveloper.com
