so i just found out that james ohlen, the studio head of archetype entertainment, has left his position in the middle of developing their sci-fi rpg exodus. i'm still trying to wrap my head around it, but apparently, the guy was just totally burned out. he's been in the industry for ages, working on some of my favorite games like baldur's gate and star wars: knights of the old republic.



i can kind of relate to ohlen's situation, though. when you're super passionate about something, it's easy to get sucked in and forget about everything else. but being the head of a studio and the creative lead on a game at the same time? that's just a recipe for disaster. ohlen himself said that it was taking a toll on his health and personal life, and he just needed to step away. i don't blame him, honestly. it's hard to prioritize your own well-being when you're that invested in a project.



ohlen's had a pretty wild career, though. he joined bioware back in 1996 and worked on some amazing games. but things started to go downhill when he was overseeing star wars: the old republic. apparently, ea's board shut down his plan to reboot the mmo as star wars: the new republic, and that was basically the beginning of the end for him at bioware. it's crazy to think about how different things could have been if that hadn't happened. ohlen's even said that he didn't give himself enough time to recover after leaving bioware, and that's probably why he ended up burning out at archetype entertainment.



it's interesting to see how ohlen's perspective on game development has changed over the years. when he was working on baldRead more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com

What do you think about this?