GamesIndustry International

From 1995 to 2012, Drs. Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka oversaw the talented folks at BioWare. The duo had enormously successful careers in the games industry, producing multiple triple-A hits, but there is one thing Zeschuk wished he could have changed, and that's shipping Jade Empire as a launch title for the Xbox 360, he revealed to GamesIndustry International in a newly published interview.

The martial arts-inspired RPG was released in April 2005 for the original Xbox, just months before Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 that holiday season. Zeschuk believes that holding the game for the 360's debut and polishing it to take advantage of the newer hardware would have been a wiser course of action for BioWare to take.

"I think making Jade Empire a 360 launch title would have been massive," he said when asked about regrets he may have had about BioWare. "That's a really specific example, but we made a choice, and there are a lot of factors that go into these choices and you can't revisit them. But it's interesting, because it reminds me of what's going on right now with analysts saying that game sales are down because people are waiting for new consoles, and we released Jade Empire into that kind of window. In retrospect, it would've been great to put off a bit and polish the game a bit more."

"We never really had a true launch title right at the beginning, and that would've been fun to have done that once. Mass Effect 1 was in a launch window but ended up kind of being about nine months later or something. It would've been cool to have a game at launch because it could have changed a lot of dynamics."

In the full interview, Zeschuk reflects on his building up a development studio, ultimately selling to investment firm Elevation Partners, subsequently joining EA, and how the console business could be in serious trouble. It's a must read!

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-04-09-bioware-co-founder-wishes-jade-empire-had-been-a-360-launch-title

Worst Bioware game I've ever played IMO

Even worse than Dragon Age II?

I agree though, I haven't played sonic RPG.

I fell for the hype and got this game for the PC. Man what a waste of 8 euro that was!

I'm glad i didn't right Bioware off after that though, otherwise i wouldn't have played jems as the first dragon age and the Mass Effect Trilogy :)

Not a big fan of the game I don't think it would have been much better as a 360 launch title. Still the only Bioware game I finished will probably finish Mass Effect 1 and 2 eventually but lost interest in both games soon after starting them.

And I, by contrast, wish it had never been made.

Hmm I liked the game.

I didn't play much of it but I saw a good chunk of it played through. It didn't seem like a great game, boring story. I feel like the console it was on was the least of its problems. Graphics were fine, its the game that needed work.

It didn't get much attention on the PC either.

WTF is wrong with you people... this the the first time I've heard people bitch about Jade Empire... on every other site Jade Empire is praised and people express their wish for a sequel.

Have any of you lot even played the game or are you just hating because 360 is in the thread title.

I just wish a sequel was made, fantastic game, I'm sure most genuine xbox fans would agree.

That's what I was thinking. I can't believe almost everyone here didn't like this game o.O It was great!