Jade Empire could have been one of BioWare's great franchises, but Microsoft's advice ruined everything

Studio regrets decision that may have buried RPG into oblivion

BioWare is known for legendary franchises like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Baldur’s Gate, but few remember that the studio almost had another great series in its portfolio. Jade Empire, released in 2005, had the potential to become one of the pillars of RPGs on consoles, but a "stupid" decision from Microsoft may have condemned the game to a dark future.

The story came to light on the podcast My Perfect Console, where BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk revealed one of his biggest regrets: releasing Jade Empire at the end of the original Xbox's life cycle, when the Xbox 360 was about to be launched.

"Microsoft said, 'no, no, you must release now, at the end of the cycle, it's the perfect time'", Zeschuk recounted.
"And it was the worst idea. Completely stupid advice from them. One of the dumbest things of all time."

The RPG arrived on the original Xbox on April 12, 2005, just seven months before the release of the Xbox 360 on November 22 of the same year. Zeschuk believes that if BioWare had held off the release for six months and adjusted it for the new console, the game would have had much better commercial performance and could have started a new weighty franchise for the company.

"If we had held the game and released it on the 360, we could have polished more, improved the combat, and it could have become a great success at the beginning of the new generation", Zeschuk stated.
"Give us six months and we could have created another weighty franchise."

Xbox 360 needed a great RPG

At the time, the Xbox 360 was launched with games like Condemned: Criminal Origins, Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, and even Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, but lacked weighty RPGs for Microsoft's new generation. If it had been a launch title for the console, Jade Empire could have capitalized on the demand for games of the genre and gained a larger fan base.

Zeschuk himself acknowledges that the game's combat was not as refined as it could be, but still believes that the RPG had a strong enough concept to grow if it had been released at the right time.

Jade Empire 2? A lost dream

Over the years, there have been rumors about a Jade Empire 2, but the project never materialized. In 2023, information emerged about a spiritual successor to the game that ended up being canceled. The fact is that BioWare never pursued the idea, and the game ended up being a cult classic.

Meanwhile, BioWare went through a tough period. After the struggles of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Electronic Arts restructured the studio, laying off employees and reassigning developers to other projects. Currently, the focus is completely on the next Mass Effect, which was announced at The Game Awards 2020, but so far has only received conceptual teasers.

Ultimately, Jade Empire could have been one of the great franchises of BioWare, alongside Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but a wrong decision from Microsoft may have buried that possibility forever.