BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk has claimed that Xbox might’ve had one other potential franchise hit within the RPG Jade Empire if it wasn’t for Microsoft’s short-sighted recommendation.
In an interview with the My Perfect Console podcast, Zeschuk mentioned that Microsoft satisfied BioWare to launch Jade Empire on the tail-end of the unique Xbox’s lifecycle. “It was the worst recommendation; absolute moronic recommendation from them. The stupidest factor ever,” he defined.
He claimed that Jade Empire ought to’ve been an Xbox 360 launch sport, which might’ve made it extra profitable as a product initially of the console’s lifecycle versus the tip of the earlier console’s lifecycle.
Zeschuk defined that if he had pushed for extra improvement money and time, Jade Empire might’ve joined the ranks of fabled franchises like Mass Impact and Dragon Age. “Give us six months; give us the prospect to make it a launch title for the 360 and we might have one other franchise,” he mentioned.
Jade Empire launched on the unique Xbox in April 2005, and the Xbox 360 was launched in November 2005. The latest estimate of the game’s sales was again in July 2005, the place it crossed 500K models bought, which was under expectations.
Whereas Jade Empire is backwards suitable with Xbox One and Xbox Sequence X|S, there have been no subsequent entries exterior of an enhanced PC port in 2007 and an iOS port in 2016. Again in 2011, BioWare expressed curiosity in creating extra video games within the Jade Empire universe, however any hopes of a sequel had been ultimately dashed.