According to Kotaku, James Ohlen, the studio head of Archetype Entertainment, is stepping down from his role just days after the studio’s game, Exodus, received a new trailer at The Game Awards 2025. Ohlen, who joined Wizards of the Coast in 2019 after a 22-year career at BioWare, co-founded Archetype to create this new sci-fi RPG. Hasbro VP Abby Hodes stated that Ohlen felt his work on the game was complete and that he asked to shift his creative focus, though he will remain as a consultant. The game itself, which heavily evokes Mass Effect, is now slated for release in 2027. Bloomberg also reports that this move coincides with Blizzard veteran Paul Della Bitta becoming head of Wizards’ Digital Ventures division under John Hight.
Timing is everything
Okay, so the studio head leaves right after a big, flashy trailer debut. That’s… interesting timing, isn’t it? Hasbro’s official line is that Ohlen’s “work on the game was complete” and the years-long polishing phase is in “great hands.” And look, maybe that’s 100% true. Game development is a marathon, and creative leads often move on once the vision is locked. But let’s be real. When a founder and the public face of a highly anticipated project—a spiritual successor to Mass Effect, no less—steps back with two years still to go, it raises eyebrows. It makes you wonder about the actual state of that “polishing and tuning.” Is this a smooth, planned transition, or a sign of deeper creative or production challenges? The 2027 date feels awfully distant for a game that started work during the pandemic.
More than a game, a Hasbro franchise
Here’s the thing that makes this move even more noteworthy. Exodus isn’t just a video game project for Wizards of the Coast. It’s supposed to be a franchise springboard. They’ve already released an Exodus tabletop RPG book, and you can bet Hasbro is dreaming of card games, toys, maybe even a TV show. This is a major corporate IP play. So Ohlen, the guy who joined Wizards specifically to create a new IP, is bowing out before the core product even launches. That seems significant. It suggests the “creative focus” he’s moving toward might be the broader world-building and transmedia stuff, leaving the gritty details of shipping a AAA video game to others. Or it could signal a shift in priorities at the corporate level.
The BioWare legacy continues, sort of
The whole Archetype story has been about gathering BioWare veterans to recapture that old magic. Ohlen was a huge get, a legendary designer from the Baldur’s Gate and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic days who had “retired” from the industry before Wizards lured him back. And he’s not the only one—writers like Drew Karpyshyn are still there. But now, with Ohlen transitioning out and Blizzard veterans like Della Bitta and Hight taking more digital leadership roles at Wizards, the studio’s identity is at a crossroads. Is it still a haven for the BioWare old guard to make their dream game? Or is it becoming another asset in a larger corporate machine managed by executives from a different RPG giant? The next couple of years will tell. Basically, the vision might be set, but the soul of the project just got a little fuzzier.
