Surprise: The studio making Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is full of former BioWare devs

At The Game Awards 2025, LucasFilm Games revealed Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, an upcoming “spiritual successor” to BioWare’s beloved Knights of the Old Republic series. Returning to head up its development is Casey Hudson, project director on KotOR 1 and the Mass Effect series, former BioWare general manager, and now co-founder, CEO, and game director at Fate of the Old Republic developer Arcanaut Studios.

Hudson’s history with the series gives the project a noteworthy pedigree, but it wasn’t until this week that we had a better sense of who else is handling the return to the Old Republic era. Thanks to a fresh update to its studio page, we now know more about Arcanaut’s development leadership. And hey, turns out it’s a bunch of other former BioWare folks. Who would’ve guessed?

(Image credit: Arcanaut Studios)

Previously, Arcanaut’s site only named Hudson’s three co-founders, two of whom have BioWare histories of their own: chief financial officer Chris Bain previously worked as BioWare’s director of business development, while chief technology officer Ryan Hoyle was a programmer on BioWare games from as far back as 2000. Otherwise, it included a vague description that its team “includes developers who worked together on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the Mass Effect trilogy, alongside talent from around the industry including Microsoft, Epic, Remedy, The Coalition, ZeniMax, and others.”

Now, the page includes short introductory videos for four more of Arcanaut’s senior and directorial staff—and yep, there’s a lot of BioWare legacy in here.

Senior technical designer Dan Fessenden was a programmer and designer on KotOR as well as Mass Effect, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Veilguard, and Anthem. Director of external development Melanie Faulknor was formerly a BioWare localization project manager and producer. Caroline Livingstone, Arcanaut’s director of production and performance, worked as voice-over director and producer for all four Mass Effects, three Dragon Ages, an Anthem, and—well—Jade Empire. Do we still talk about Jade Empire?

(Image credit: Arcanaut Studios)

Rounding out the bunch is art director Pascal Blanché. While Blanché doesn’t have any BioWare credits to his name, he was previously art director on Myst 4, the original Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Far Cry: New Dawn. And if you take a glance at his ArtStation page, you’ll find a strong collection of eerie sci-fi sensibilities that would make an interesting melding with the Old Republic’s established aesthetic. This is an artistic vision that could make some primo Sith temples.

It’s unclear how much, if any, of the previous Old Republic games will be allowed to reenter Star Wars canon under Disney’s stewardship: The official Star Wars site says Fate of the Old Republic is “not a direct sequel or continuation” and will “introduce new characters for an all-new story.” Even if it breaks from the existing Old Republic series, the successor will clearly have plenty of BioWare blood in the mix. Given that Arcanaut only formed in 2025, however, we’ve likely got a long wait before we see how well that comes together.

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