Star Wars: The Old Republic lead told BioWare bosses "I hate massive multiplayer games" before agreeing to run the MMO and becoming a "highly paid, completely useless person"

• Copy link
• Facebook
• X
• Pinterest
• Flipboard
• Email

Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter

One of your biggest breaks could come from the most unexpected of places. As is the case of a tenured developer at BioWare, who found himself leading the development of successful MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic despite disliking the genre wholesale.

For a number years, James Ohlen was a prominent designer at BioWare, working on the likes of Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect, and the first Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Then, he had a fateful meeting with studio co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk about venturing further into a galaxy far, far away, and directing The Old Republic in Austin.

"And I was like, 'I hate massive multiplayer games. But all right, I'll do it,'" Ohlen explains to PCGamer. "It took me a day, I talked to my wife and said, 'It'll be an adventure, we'll only be there for a year.' I'm still here. Maybe I should have known better."

Latest Videos From

The project was on a scale different to what Ohlen was used to, to say the least. Though exact figures are uncertain, reports place The Old Republic's overall budget at over $200 million, making it one of the priciest games ever made.

Ohlen describes his role on the game as something of a cat wrangler who had to guide the "big ego designers" and make sure they "didn't kill each other." In 2018, seven years after the MMO from a long, long time ago launched, he departed BioWare. By the end, Ohlen says, he was just absorbing a nice salary, describing himself as a "highly paid, completely useless person."

Star Wars: The Old Republic is still running, though now it's supported by Broadsword Online Games. Ohlen was recently working on upcoming sci-fi RPG Exodus at Archetype Entertainment before stepping away from the team in late 2025.

Mass Effect hasn't been great in "a long time," but "D&D in space" RPG Exodus can fill the gap according to Hasbro's CEO.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

CATEGORIES

Anthony McGlynnContributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

View More

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Logout LATEST ARTICLES

1. 1Skyrim becomes playable in Fallout 4 thanks to one genius RPG modder who "beat" Todd Howard to it
2. 2Killing Marathon would be self-sabotage for Sony
3. 3Bob Odenkirk and John Wick creator's new movie isn't just an action flick – it also has a surprising amount of heart
4. 4Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director won't confirm or deny fan theories because that would ruin the fun
5. 5Subnautica 2 devs promise sprint, voice chat, and player trading and more in early access roadmap