It’s true that too much work can bring out the worst in people. That’s exactly what happened to James Ohlen.
In early January, Ohlen, a BioWare veteran of 22 years, suddenly left Archetype Entertainment. The Wizards of the Coast-backed studio was founded by Ohlen years earlier to develop Exodus, a sci-fi action RPG similar to Mass Effect. With less than a year to go before the game’s release, Ohlen’s departure seemed like a bad omen to many fans who feared something was wrong with the project. However, a new PC Gamer interview may alleviate those concerns. Ohlen revealed that he suffered from severe burnout while serving as Archetype’s head and Exodus‘s creative director. For the sake of his well-being, he had no choice but to leave.
This isn’t the first time Ohlen has found himself in a similar situation. The same thing happened to him at BioWare when he was the director of the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. The designer admitted that he was wrong to refuse to create a “World of Warcraft in space.” Interestingly, he revealed that he had a plan for a soft reboot of Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) titled Star Wars: The New Republic, which would essentially have resulted in “KOTOR Online.” He won over former Electronic Arts executive Patrick Söderlund, who is currently the head of Embark and Nexon’s newly appointed executive chairman, as well as Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy and Dave Filoni. Unfortunately, the project fell through when Electronic Arts’ board of directors refused to spend any more money on it. Based on his own words, this may not be the last time he returns to gaming.
“I always told everyone that I should never be the head of a studio because it would kill me, and it nearly did. It was six years of almost killing me. I was running on fumes. It was hurting my health and my personal life. I just needed to step away. As a creative, you care about everything so much. But as the head of a studio, you have to constantly compromise your vision and deal with people attacking it. I definitely wouldn’t put myself in that situation again. That’s not a healthy place to be. Maybe I fooled myself into thinking that I wouldn’t be dying inside. But, yeah, it was just too much. You’re trying to manage all sorts of personalities, people, groups, and organizations. On top of that, there’s the pressure of working on a big-budget title.
The chance to work on Knights of the Old Republic Online was an opportunity to correct everything I said we messed up. I remember getting super excited because the big challenge was Patrick Söderlund from Electronic Arts. I think he’s great, but he hates Star Wars: The Old Republic. I convinced him, and that was one of the greatest accomplishments of my career. We were going to have Star Wars: The New Republic until the Electronic Arts board of directors, who remembered the launch of SWTOR and the $300 million spent, got involved. They asked, “Why the hell are we going to spend a bunch more?” I’m sure I’ll get bamboozled into starting another video game studio – and all the pain that comes with it,” said Ohlen.
For Ohlen, the lesson seems clear: Even a dream project can become too costly if it consumes the person bringing it to life. That’s why his departure from Exodus doesn’t seem mysterious to fans, but rather a necessary fresh start for a veteran creator who has devoted much of his career to bringing grand ideas to life.
