Star Wars Devs Working on New Multiplayer Game

A squad of former BioWare developers have formed a new studio and today revealed a publishing partnership with Nexon America for their first title, an unannounced "multiplayer online action game."

QC Games is based in Austin, Texas, and is led by Dallas Dickinson, president and CEO of the studio. He formerly worked at BioWare in the roles of director of production and senior producer for nearly 7 years. Joining him are a team of other former BioWare developers, including Gabe Amatangelo, who was creative director on the canceled Shadow Realms, and before that, worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic. Other staff at QC Games have experience in the Dragon Age, Rock Band, and Fable franchises.

"This agreement marks another milestone in growing our business in key markets, leveraging both the talents of our developer partners and our own knowledge of online games to provide AAA experiences that are customized for global tastes and audiences," Nexon president and CEO Owen Mahoney said in a statement. “Dallas and the team of veterans he's building at QC Games have played a part in creating some of the world's most successful games, and we're looking forward to helping them bring another hit title to market."

QC Games is not yet providing specifics about its first game, but the studio's overall mission is to build "AAA online experiences for gamers" using its own proprietary technology. In a statement, Dickinson explained why Nexon was the right partner to align with for its first game.

"Having the freedom to bring our vision to life is paramount to me and my team, and working with Nexon America provides us creative control as well as deep support from a partner who understands the online market better than anyone else," Dickinson said. "Our goal as a studio is to create the highest quality games possible, and I feel this partnership, along with the first-class team who has joined me so far at QC Games, will make that a reality."

QC Games is not the only high-profile Western studio that Nexon is working with for upcoming projects. The company is also publishing Gears of War creator Cliff Blesiznski's next game, a gravity-based online multiplayer shooter called LawBreakers. In addition, Nexon is working with Electronic Arts to develop a new version of Titanfall for Asia. Nexon was lined up to publish the next game from a former Call of Duty developer, but that deal fell through.

What are you hoping to see from QC Games? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

“This agreement marks another milestone in growing our business in key markets, leveraging both the talents of our developer partners and our own knowledge of online games to provide AAA experiences that are customized for global tastes and audiences,” said Owen Mahoney, president and chief executive officer, Nexon. “Dallas and the team of veterans he’s building at QC Games have played a part in creating some of the world’s most successful games, and we’re looking forward to helping them bring another hit title to market.”

Dickinson, who has been making online games for nearly 20 years, was the senior producer on classic titles including Planetside, Shadow Realms and Star Wars: Galaxies, but is best-known for his work on Star Wars: The Old Republic where he served as director of production at Bioware Austin. He’s begun assembling an all-star team at QC Games, which includes:

• · Gabe Amatangelo, creative director and chief creative officer (most recently the creative director of Shadow Realms, prior work includes Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online, Dragon Age: Inquisition)
• · Brian Matt, technical director and chief technology officer (Wolfenstein: Tides of War, Doom 3, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Shadow Realms)
• · Jason Rotan, chief operating officer (previously launched and maintained a wide range of AAA titles in multiple genres with companies including NC Soft, EA and Bioware)
• · Pat Ditterline, senior engineer (Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic)
• · Stefan Lednicky, senior engineer (a long-time Bioware veteran who has worked on titles including Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Shadow Realms and Star Wars: The Old Republic)
• · Marcus Hays, senior engineer (Titan Quest franchise, The Sims, Dragon Age)
• · Pedro Toledo, art director (Star Wars: The Old Republic, Shadow Realms, Dragon Age, RockBand, Fable 2)

“Having the freedom to bring our vision to life is paramount to me and my team, and working with Nexon America provides us creative control as well as deep support from a partner who understands the online market better than anyone else,” said Dallas Dickinson, president and chief executive officer, QC Games. “Our goal as a studio is to create the highest quality games possible, and I feel this partnership, along with the first-class team who has joined me so far at QC Games, will make that a reality.”

QC Games is currently accepting resumes via jobs@qcgamedev.com for professionals interested in working with the company on its first game.