Former BioWare Director’s New Studio Is Working On A Game In Unreal Engine

Casey Hudson is a well-known name for fans of BioWare Games. Hudson was the director of the Mass Effect trilogy as well as Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic. Casey famously left Bioware in 2014 and in 2020 after rejoining the company in 2017. 2 years ago, Casey announced that he would form his own game development company, Called Humanoid Studios. 

Humanoid is currently working on a new IP, reportedly a AAA sci-fi universe. Hudson’s science fiction experience with both Mass Effect and KOTOR made it appear plausible that this new IP would be a high-quality sci-fi universe (although some Mass Effect fans are still upset with Casey about the ending of Mass Effect 3). Concept art on the company’s website confirms this.

Unreal Engine seems to be the go-to engine for indie developers these days, and Humanoid is no exception. Job postings for senior developers at Humanoid specifically request candidates with experience in shipping AAA games, preferably in Unreal Engine. 

Another job posting for a senior technical designer requests experience using Unreal Engine 5, as well as experience with action adventure and RPG game mechanics. Since Humanoid is formed by former BioWare developers, and since BioWare is not for its large-scale RPGs, there is no question whether or not this new IP would be an RPG. 

Unreal Engine 5 is really the go-to engine if you are starting from scratch. Why use anything else? Casey was spared the fate of having to develop games at BioWare using EA’s Frostbite Engine, an engine that BioWare developers blamed on Mass Effect Andromeda’s poor performance and development cycle. Casey rejoined BioWare shortly after the release of Andromeda. 

Casey is not the only former senior Bioware developer who left the company to start or join a new venture. 3 years ago, veteran BioWare writer and writer of the Mass Effect games joined a new studio called Archetype Entertainment, a studio formed by former BioWare developers. Archetpye too is working on a AAA sci-fi game.