Star Wars: The Old Republic Designer Leaves BioWare

Star Wars: The Old Republic lead designer Daniel Erickson has left BioWare. Erickson made the news official on Twitter, writing “As part of leaving BioWare I'm officially starting a twitter account for job hunt and design thoughts.”

Erickson previously sparked speculation about his departure after adding "actively looking for new opportunities" to his LinkedIn page last month. He follows recent BioWare departures including The Old Republic executive producer Rich Vogel, who left BioWare in July, as well as BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuck, who retired from the company last month.

Star Wars: The Old Republic will transition to free-to-play later this year. Update 1.4, which adds a new high-level operation in addition to new armor went live last last week. For a full list of all the changes, see our Star Wars: The Old Republic wiki guide.

IGN wishes Erickson the best of luck in whatever he moves onto next.

Source: Joystiq

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Mass Effect Trilogy Set Announced

BioWare has announced the Mass Effect Trilogy Compilation, bringing the original Mass Effect to PlayStation 3 for the first time. The set will combine all three Mass Effect titles into one package and will launch on Xbox 360 and PC on November 6th for $59.99. A PlayStation 3 version will follow, though a specific date hasn’t been announced just yet.

BioWare will also release the original Mass Effect as a standalone title via PlayStation Network, though an exact date hasn’t been announced for that either. This marks the first time Mass Effect, which was published by Microsoft Studios originally, will make its way to Sony’s console. IGN has learned that the standalone version will include Trophy support.

Separately, BioWare announced N7 Day, a “worldwide celebration” that will take place on November 7th. The day will include in-game, online and live events, and more details will be coming soon on MassEffect.com.

Mass Effect was originally released on Xbox 360 in November of 2007, followed by a PC version in May 2008. Mass Effect 2 launched on Xbox 360 and PC in January 2010, followed by a PlayStation 3 version a year later. Mass Effect 3 launched for all three platforms on March 6th of this year, and a Wii U version will follow on November 18th.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Dragon Age 3: Inquisition Announced

BioWare has announced Dragon Age 3: Inquisition. Set to arrive in late 2013, Dragon Age 3 will be built on a new RPG engine using DICE's Frostbite 2 technology as a foundation. According to a post from executive producer Mark Darrah on the game's official site, the development team contains many of the same people that have been working on the franchise since Dragon Age: Origins.

“The Dragon Age team has been working on Dragon Age 3: Inquisition for almost two years now,” said BioWare Edmonton and Montreal general manager Aaryn Flynn. “We’ve been poring over player feedback from past games and connecting directly with our fans. They haven’t held back, so we’re not either. With Dragon Age 3: Inquisition, we want to give fans what they’re asking for – a great story with choices that matter, a massive world to explore, deep customization and combat that is both tactical and visceral.”

“At the same time,” Flynn added, “we know we need new technology to truly make this vision become fully realized. And we’ve been working with DICE to make Frostbite 2 the foundation for the engine that is going to power Dragon Age 3.”

The title appears to confirm a leaked questionnaire that emerged last month, with details suggesting “The empire of Orlais is riven by civil war; the Chantry is divided; the Templar order has broken away; the Mage circles have rebelled. Some unseen force is manipulating events, bringing about disorder and destruction. Out of this confusion emerges The Inquisition.” According to that leak, players will take the role as the leader of the Inquisition and can make their player “a rogue, warrior or mage and set up your crew from up to ten complex companions to lead them against those who attack you by systematically spying on, revealing and destroying them."

Prior to that, BioWare said back in March that it had “fully moved onto the next thing” in the Dragon Age franchise. Earlier, BioWare mentioned Dragon Age 3 on Twitter back in May of 2011, advertising that it was looking for environment artists. In a later interview at Gamescom 2011, BioWare’s Ray Muzyka discussed taking fan feedback from Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Origins to heart as it looked toward the sequel.

For now, few details have been officially announced, including which platforms Dragon Age 3 will be coming to. "There's much more to talk about, of course, but it will have to wait until it's ready for the prime time," Darrah said. "We are going to be as open as we can. We will continue to have a dialogue with you and answer what questions we can. Keep providing us with your feedback. I'm excited about what we are working on and I hope that you will be too. I know this is going to be hard to believe, but it is just as hard for me not to tell you stuff as it is for you to wait."

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition Delayed

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, an updated version of BioWare's classic role-playing game, has been delayed to November 30, 2012. Previously the PC version was expected to be made available on September 18, with iPad and Mac versions scheduled to show up sometime in September. All those versions are now expected to ship on Nov. 30.

According to Overhaul Games president Trent Oster, "After recently reviewing the game and then consulting with our partners, we've decided to ensure that Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is the best possible product on launch. Thus, we have pushed back the release date of the game."

"To all who have pre-ordered, we ask for your patience as we move toward our final release date -- and we will be working on something a little extra for you."

The Enhanced Edition of the game will feature all of Baldur's Gate's content plus new characters, story and more. You can find Oster's official statement on the Baldur's Gate forums.

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