Former developers BioWare announced Exodus, an ambitious triple-A sci-fi role-playing game starring Matthew McConaughey, at The Game Awards 2023.

The team at Archetype Entertainment has just unveiled its first game, Exodus, a third-person sci-fi epic starring Matthew McConaughey. Founded in April 2019, Archetype Entertainment is headed by several former BioWare icons. For example, James Ohlen and Drew Karpyshyn who now work as studio head and lead writer on Exodus, respectively.

BioWare is responsible for the golden era of games like Baldur’s Gate 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins, it’s pretty clear that Exodus is their attempt to revive something of this magic.

The cinematic trailer debuted at The Game Awards 2023. Although the shots don’t show the in-game graphics, they were made by the famous Blur studio. They previously worked with BioWare on the popular cinematics of Star Wars: The Old Republic. The trailer itself doesn’t reveal much about the story, but it sets the tone for what kind of game Exodus will be. The parallels with the Mass Effect universe are apparent. But Exodus also seems to draw some inspiration from Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

Matthew McConaughey will star in Exodus

All that being said, there is arguably no better person to star in Exodus than Interstellar star Matthew McConaughey himself. He also appears on stage to announce that he will be voicing one of the essential characters. Heralded as a story-driven, next-generation role-playing game set among the stars, Exodus aims to combine the cinematic storytelling and wide-ranging player action familiar to BioWare fans with modern AAA gameplay. The concept of Exodus that makes it so interesting is time dilation. With this, players will take on the role of the Traveller.

Although not clearly confirmed in the trailer, Exodus will allow players to see the consequences of their decisions over the course of decades if not lifetimes.

In Mass Effect, travelling through relays did not involve time dilation. However, in Exodus, the gates really slow down time for the traveller. By using gates as a storytelling device, Exodus takes the butterfly effect of player decisions a step further than Mass Effect did. As a traveller, players can explore the vast expanses of an unknown galaxy. In the process, they avoid the hostile Celestials, who seem to be one of the main antagonists of the location.

A release date for Exodus has yet to be announced. The game’s official website has already been launched. (See below!) Exodus will also feature BioWare-style companions. So far, only Tom Vargus has been announced. And players are described as having Celestial heritage on their mother’s side, which allows them to interact with Celestial technology. While Exodus’ gameplay hasn’t been revealed yet, the setting certainly looks promising.

Source: Exodus.com, YouTube