{"id":2453491,"date":"2026-06-10T21:28:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2453491"},"modified":"2026-06-10T21:28:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:28:48","slug":"archetype-entertainment-founder-and-bioware-veteran-wishes-exodus-didnt-look-so-much-like-mass-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/archetype-entertainment-founder-and-bioware-veteran-wishes-exodus-didnt-look-so-much-like-mass-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"Archetype Entertainment founder and BioWare veteran wishes Exodus didn&#8217;t look so much like Mass Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-afee582f-cf8c-4a19-aeca-ca905820a401\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/uk\/exodus\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/uk\/exodus\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/uk\/exodus\/\">Exodus<\/a> might have an uphill struggle escaping the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/rpg\/exodus-somehow-looks-even-more-like-mass-effect-than-it-did-before-it-dropped-a-big-gameplay-reveal-at-the-future-game-show\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/rpg\/exodus-somehow-looks-even-more-like-mass-effect-than-it-did-before-it-dropped-a-big-gameplay-reveal-at-the-future-game-show\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/rpg\/exodus-somehow-looks-even-more-like-mass-effect-than-it-did-before-it-dropped-a-big-gameplay-reveal-at-the-future-game-show\/\">shadow of Mass Effect<\/a>. Archetype Entertainment&#8217;s sci-fi RPG immediately invited Mass Effect comparisons when it was first shown off, and those comparisons have continued and, if anything, become more obvious.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s understandable, of course. Archetype was founded by BioWare veteran James Ohlen and the team includes other former BioWare devs. And Ohlen isn&#8217;t shy about acknowledging the impact Mass Effect has had on the upcoming game.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-afee582f-cf8c-4a19-aeca-ca905820a401-2\">&#8220;Mass Effect had a big influence,&#8221; he tells us. But now that Ohlen has left Archetype, and for the time being the games industry entirely, he&#8217;s better able to voice his regrets. Specifically, that visually he &#8220;failed to get us to go further away from [Mass Effect]&#8221;.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-6 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-[10px] lg:my-8\" data-component-name=\"JwPlayer:Carousel\" data-jwp-carousel=\"\" data-jwp-carousel-payload=\"{&quot;ids&quot;:{&quot;playerID&quot;:&quot;xRndq6xb&quot;,&quot;searchPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;4Ea1NHIL&quot;,&quot;divID&quot;:&quot;botr_4Ea1NHIL_xRndq6xb_div&quot;,&quot;fallbackPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;egqep2zS&quot;,&quot;fallbackDivID&quot;:&quot;botr_egqep2zS_xRndq6xb_div&quot;,&quot;key&quot;:&quot;IMcDEqsezRep6Vlov8S+D5R7vfE9eQDsizft09U7euHVCtiE&quot;,&quot;tintLogo&quot;:false,&quot;useSearchPlaylist&quot;:false,&quot;enabled&quot;:true},&quot;signPostingEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;signPostingLinkEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;waitForAdLoad&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnDesktop&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnMobile&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnTablet&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-nowrap items-center justify-between gap-3 bg-zinc-900 px-[14px] py-3\" data-jwp-carousel-header=\"\">\n<div class=\"flex min-w-0 shrink items-center\"><span class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm font-article-heading capitalize leading-5 text-white whitespace-nowrap\"><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-mobile\"\/><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-desktop\">Latest Videos From<\/span><span class=\"jwp-carousel-brand inline-flex items-center\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"aspect-video w-full min-h-[200px] lg:min-h-[330px] relative overflow-hidden bg-black\" data-jwp-carousel-container=\"\">\n<div class=\"absolute inset-0 size-full items-center justify-center bg-white\" data-jwp-carousel-fallback=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/media\/img\/pcgamer_logo.svg\" alt=\"\" class=\"max-h-12 w-auto\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>There really is an uncanny similarity, right down to the armour design. But Ohlen still has faith that the team can make Exodus stand out. &#8220;The team is still doing a good job at moving it away so that it has its own look,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p>He did at least manage to &#8220;successfully [fight] against Star Wars&#8221;, specifically aping the look of Disney&#8217;s all-consuming sci-fi property. &#8220;We can&#8217;t look like Star Wars,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-2 pb-0 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,1em)] uppercase sm:text-[length:var(--article-river-title--font-size,0.875em)] font-bold&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&#8220;I shouldn&#8217;t really talk much about Exodus,&#8221; he jokes, &#8220;I&#8217;m not supposed to. I&#8217;ll be murdered.&#8221; Despite this fear of assassination, he does want to emphasise Exodus&#8217;s more unique properties, which he believes will set it apart from Mass Effect and other sci-fi games.<\/p>\n<p>One of those elements is the concept of the Awakened\u2014&#8221;the animals who have been bred to have intellectual capability&#8221;&#8212;which arose out of the challenges inherent in designing a unique alien species.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-dsRo8rTdk8juacnfqmUGQ9\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-dsRo8rTdk8juacnfqmUGQ9 slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;The thing about science fiction I&#8217;ve always felt is that it&#8217;s so hard to do a unique alien,&#8221; Ohlen says. &#8220;They&#8217;ve all been done before.&#8221; The Awakened were the solution to this conundrum. &#8220;When have you seen a science fiction game where you have intelligent wolves and tigers and frogs and all that? It gives it a different feel and look.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Granted, science fiction has given us intelligent or genetically altered critters before, and in games this goes as far back as Star Fox. But it&#8217;s certainly not as overdone\u2014not even close\u2014as aliens.<\/p>\n<p>Then there&#8217;s the time dilation concept, which Ohlen had actually wanted to include in Mass Effect\u2014though it never made the cut. Interestingly, time dilation doesn&#8217;t just set it apart from Mass Effect, it also complements the BioWare-inspired elements that the team wanted to keep.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Time dilation is just the big defining feature of the whole universe,&#8221; Ohlen says. &#8220;Because you can&#8217;t break the speed of light, every time you go on a journey, years or decades pass. And that&#8217;s really good when you combine that with BioWare-style choices, where you have to see the [impact of your choices].&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s actually a pretty brilliant solution to a problem that a lot of BioWare and other choice-laden games have\u2014where the long tail of your choices isn&#8217;t really felt until the game&#8217;s epilogue, or even a sequel. In Exodus, the impact of time dilation as the game unfolds means you&#8217;ll see how your choices echo across the years, without ending the game as a geriatric in an assisted living facility.<\/p>\n<p>Exodus is due out in 2027.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-collectionwidget-3071d0290537cae94d70ad55d90e79f4\"\/><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-300b14bf-321c-4a45-90c1-f0cb4cf7749f\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.pcgamer.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exodus might have an uphill struggle escaping the shadow of Mass Effect. Archetype Entertainment&#8217;s sci-fi RPG immediately invited Mass Effect comparisons when it was first shown off, and those comparisons have continued and, if anything, become more obvious. It&#8217;s understandable, of course. Archetype was founded by BioWare veteran James Ohlen and the team includes other [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2453493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2453491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Archetype-Entertainment-founder-and-BioWare-veteran-wishes-Exodus-didnt-look.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2453491"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2453495,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2453491\/revisions\/2453495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2453493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2453491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2453491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2453491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}