BioWare Co-Founder Recalls ‘Moronic’ Xbox Advice That Potentially Ruined A Franchise
“The stupidest thing ever”
Back in the days of the original Xbox, BioWare treated us to an Xbox exclusive in the form of Jade Empire, but it ended up releasing just a few months before the Xbox 360 – and that may have ultimately prevented it from getting a sequel.
That’s what BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk believes at least, telling the My Perfect Console podcast recently (thanks, GamesRadar), that Xbox was responsible for dishing out “absolute moronic advice” to release Jade Empire at the end of the OG generation rather than waiting to make it an Xbox 360 launch title.
Here’s a bit of what he had to say:
“Microsoft was like ‘no no, you should release it now, right at the end of the cycle, because it’s a great time’… it was the worst advice, absolute moronic advice from them, the stupidest thing ever.”
Ultimately, Zeschuk believes that his team could have “amped it up” and got the game ready for the Xbox 360 instead, suggesting that it “would have been a way more successful product at the beginning of a cycle than the end”.
That’s obviously not what happened, and even though Jade Empire proved popular with fans, it clearly didn’t do well enough to spark a sequel. At least it’s still playable today though – it’s backwards compatible on modern consoles!
Do you think Jade Empire should have been held back until the Xbox 360? Tell us down below.
[source open.spotify.com, via gamesradar.com]
Fraser is the News Editor at Pure Xbox, where he spends his time reporting on the biggest stories in the world of Xbox and beyond.
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