Bumper year for BioWare

2011 will be a landmark 12 months for developer BioWare as it prepares three big titles for the year.

The EA-owned developer announced Mass Effect 3 at Spike Video Game Awards last weekend, and revealed it will arrive in time for Christmas. It will follow hot on the heels of the firm’s highly anticipated MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

But before all that the studio will release Dragon Age II on March 11th. It is the sequel to the 2008 smash hit Dragon Age: Origins, which is EA and BioWare’s most successful new IP launch on record.

Dragon Age: Origins was an immense success for us at both BioWare and EA,” said global senior product manager David Silverman.

To date, Dragon Age: Origins is EA and BioWare’s most successful new IP launch ever. The team has spent countless hours trying to create a rich, dark fantasy world that people can escape to and shape in their own image. And to see the sales results as strong as they were, especially given the crowded holiday window, we are both humbled and inspired.

It is our hope that we are able to continue establishing Dragon Age in the RPG space and eventually play a major role in redefining it.”

Mass Effect 3 was the headline reveal at the VGAs last weekend, and BioWare’s co-founder Ray Muzyka is confident the game will live up to the plaudits Mass Effect 2 received when it arrived last January.

At BioWare, we are always driving ourselves to improve and I firmly believe our best work is still ahead of us,” he said.