Former KOTOR lead designer is making Exodus, an ambitious space RPG starring Matthew McConaughey

James Ohlen’s studio is creating a game focused on consequences

Under the leadership of former BioWare lead designer James Ohlen, the Wizards of the Coast studio Archetype Entertainment is developing an ambitious space game called Exodus, which has been revealed at The Game Awards 2023. It's coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

You can watch the first trailer for Exodus below:

Exodus is going to be focused on player choices and the consequences of these decisions, which are said to be massive – we are talking about deciding the fate of entire worlds and then seeing how these decisions play out over generations.

Matthew McConaughey, who revealed the game on stage at The Game Awards, is starring in the game.

Ohlen filled leading creative positions during the development of many big BioWare RPGs, among them Baldur’s Gate plus its expansion and sequel, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origin, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Exodus has no release date just yet / Archetype Entertainment

After 22 years at the company, he retired in 2018 to found a tabletop publishing company called Arcanum Worlds. It seems like game development called him back quickly, though, because in 2019 he accepted an offer by Wizards of the Coast to establish a new studio in Austin, Texas, that would be tasked with creating new IP – this would become Archetype Entertainment, which was officially announced in 2020.

Fellow BioWare veteran Chad Robertson was named to be general studio manager, while KOTOR and Mass Effect writer Drew Karpyshyn joined one month later as the studio’s lead writer.

Wizards of the Coast back then already revealed that the studio’s first new project would be a sci-fi RPG.