Drew Karpyshyn

Last updated
Drew Karpyshyn
Drew Karpyshyn - Lucca Comics & Games 2014.JPG
Drew Karpyshyn at Lucca Comics & Games, 2014
Born (1971-07-28) July 28, 1971 (age 53)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
OccupationNovelist, game designer
LanguageEnglish
GenreFantasy, science fiction
SpouseJennifer Karpyshyn
Website
drewkarpyshyn.com

Drew Karpyshyn (born July 28, 1971) is a Canadian video game scenario writer, scriptwriter and novelist of Ukrainian descent. [1] [2] He served as a senior writer on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for BioWare and lead writer for the first two Mass Effect video games. He left BioWare in 2012 to focus on his Chaos Born novels, and returned to it three years later in 2015. On March 9, 2018, he announced he was leaving BioWare once again to pursue his independent work.

Contents

Career

Karpyshyn was at one point employed as a loan officer. [3] Following a car accident, he quit his job and returned to college, gaining a degree in English. [4] He got his start as a game designer for Wizards of the Coast, and he also has written two novels for Wizards of the Coast, both published in 2001 and both set in the Forgotten Realms setting: Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal and Temple Hill . [3]

Karpyshyn joined the video game company BioWare in 2000. [3] [5] He wrote the scenario and much of the dialogue for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic , [6] for which he would share the award for "Excellence in Writing" at the 2003 Game Developers Choice Awards. [7] He was later one of the lead writers and planners on Jade Empire , and worked on several games in the Baldur's Gate series. His next major project was the Mass Effect series of games. [6] His third book, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction was published by Del Rey Ballantine Books in 2006. [3]

Mass Effect was named Game of the Year, in addition to receiving four other awards at the 2008 Elan Awards. [8]

Karpyshyn moved to Austin, Texas to help with Star Wars: The Old Republic . [9] He left BioWare in February 2012 to focus more on his own projects. [10] He returned to BioWare in 2015 to focus on the post-release development of Star Wars: The Old Republic. [11] He later started working on Anthem in 2017. [12] In March 2018, he announced that he would once again leave BioWare to work on other things, including more original novels, co-creating a sci-fi graphic novel, and freelance gaming work. [13]

Karphyshyn announced in February 2020 that he had joined Archetype Entertainment, an internal studio of Wizards of the Coast with former BioWare staff James Ohlen and Chad Robertson as studio leads. Archetype had been revealed in January 2020 and that it was working on a new science fiction role-playing game. Karphyshyn said that while his interest in video game development waned as BioWare had changed over the years, "my passion has been rekindled. The feel in the studio reminds me of my early days at BioWare; I can feel the magic in the air." [14]

Personal life

In March 2000, Karpyshyn appeared on an episode of Jeopardy! , finishing third. [9] [15] He is a fan of the NFL's San Diego Chargers. [10] He believes that in the NFL, Bill Belichick is most likely to follow the ways of the Sith, and Peyton Manning is the most likely to be a Jedi. [16] Though his musical tastes lean more to what he calls "mainstream alternative", such as the Foo Fighters and Green Day, he also enjoys Sage Francis' song "The Best of Times". He prefers to write at night without any music playing. [17]

Karpyshyn was born on July 28, 1971, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He previously lived in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, with his wife Jennifer. [4] In the spring of 2009, he moved with his family to Austin, Texas. [10]

Works

Games

Novels

Forgotten Realms

Star Wars

Mass Effect

Chaos Born

  • Children of Fire (2013)
  • The Scorched Earth (2014)
  • Chaos Unleashed (2015)

Related Research Articles

<i>Baldurs Gate</i> Franchise of fantasy role-playing video games

Baldur's Gate is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. The series has been divided into two sub-series, known as the Bhaalspawn Saga and the Dark Alliance, both taking place mostly within the Western Heartlands, but the Bhaalspawn Saga extends to Amn and Tethyr. The Dark Alliance series was released for consoles and was critically and commercially successful. The Bhaalspawn Saga was critically acclaimed for using pausable realtime gameplay, which is credited with revitalizing the computer role-playing game (CRPG) genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BioWare</span> Canadian video game developer

BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip. Since 2007, the company has been owned by American publisher Electronic Arts.

<i>Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic</i> (video game) 2003 video game

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts. The first installment of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series, it was released for the Xbox on July 16, 2003, and for Microsoft Windows on November 19, 2003. It was ported to Mac OS X, iOS, and Android by Aspyr, and it is playable on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S via backward compatibility. A Nintendo Switch version was released on November 11, 2021.

<i>Baldurs Gate II: Throne of Bhaal</i> Expansion pack

Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal is a 2001 expansion pack for the role-playing video game Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. It adds a multi-level dungeon called Watcher's Keep to the game and completes the main plot. There are several new weapons, a higher level cap, a further refined Infinity graphics engine, and new class-related features and magical skills. The novelization of the game was written by Drew Karpyshyn and released in September 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darth Bane</span> Fictional character in the Star Wars franchise

Darth Bane is a fictional character created by George Lucas in the Star Wars franchise. In the Star Wars universe, Darth Bane is a powerful Sith Lord who lived one thousand years before the events of the films and is known for being the originator of the Sith's "Rule of Two", which states: "One master and one apprentice can be the only Sith in the galaxy at a time". Before, the Sith empire was structured much like its Jedi counterpart; due to their shortfalls, he killed them and created this new rule.

<i>Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn</i> 2000 video game

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Interplay Entertainment. It is the sequel to 1998's Baldur's Gate and was released for Windows in September 2000. Following its predecessor, the game takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a fantasy campaign setting, and is based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition rules. Powered by BioWare's Infinity Engine, Baldur's Gate II uses an isometric perspective and pausable real-time gameplay. The player controls a party of up to six characters, one of whom is the player-created protagonist; the others are certain characters recruited from the game world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HK-47</span> Star Wars fictional character

HK-47 is a fictional droid in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, he is an extremely efficient assassin droid constructed by Revan to assist them in hunting Jedi, until both have their memories wiped and made to serve the Jedi themselves. Voiced by Kristoffer Tabori, HK-47 reappears in the 2004 sequel, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the Trials of Obi-Wan 2005 expansion pack to the massively multiplayer online game Star Wars Galaxies, and the 2011 MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic, as well as various other novels, short stories, comics, and video games in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minsc</span> Fictional character from Baldurs Gate

Minsc is a fictional character in the Baldur's Gate series of Dungeons & Dragons role-playing video games developed by BioWare and Larian Studios. He originated from the pen-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons sessions held by the lead designer of Baldur's Gate, James Ohlen, and was expanded upon by the game's lead writer, Lukas Kristjanson. His video game debut was in Baldur's Gate as a companion character who can join the player's party. He also appears in the sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, the expansion, Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, the 2015 game Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, the 2023 game Baldur's Gate 3, as well as in promotions relating to the titles. Minsc is voiced by Jim Cummings in his original video game appearances, and by Matt Mercer in Baldur's Gate 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Muzyka</span> Canadian investor, entrepreneur and physician

Raymond Alexander Muzyka is a Canadian investor, entrepreneur and physician. Originally trained as a medical doctor and practicing as an emergency department and family physician after graduation, he is the co-founder of video game developer BioWare, and was CEO, senior vice president, and general manager of the BioWare label of Electronic Arts. In October 2012 he announced that he was embarking on a 'third career' mentoring and angel investing in technology, new media, medical and social entrepreneurs, and impact investing at ThresholdImpact.

<i>Baldurs Gate</i> (video game) 1998 video game

Baldur's Gate is a role-playing video game that was developed by BioWare and published in 1998 by Interplay Entertainment. It is the first game in the Baldur's Gate series and takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a high fantasy campaign setting, using a modified version of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) 2nd edition rules. It was the first game to use the Infinity Engine for its graphics, with Interplay using the engine for other Forgotten Realms-licensed games, including the Icewind Dale series and Planescape: Torment. The game's story focuses on a player-made character who travels across the Sword Coast alongside a party of companions.

James Ohlen is a video game designer. He was Senior Creative Director of BioWare where he worked for 22 years prior to starting the publishing company Arcanum Worlds in 2018. In 2019, Ohlen became the lead of a new internal development studio Archetype Entertainment under Wizards of the Coast to develop new intellectual property and video games for the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Meer</span> Canadian actor

Mark Meer is a Canadian actor, writer and improvisor, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is known for his role in the Mass Effect trilogy, in which he stars as the voice of the player character, Commander Shepard. His voice is featured in a number of other games from BioWare Corp., notably the Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age series. Meer stars as the voice of the player character William Mackenzie in The Long Dark from Hinterland Studio. He also works in animation, providing the voice for several characters in a series of cartoon shorts produced by Rantdog Animation Studios, and the voice of Horse in the Captain Canuck web series starring Kris Holden-Ried and Tatiana Maslany.

<i>Mass Effect: Revelation</i> 2007 science fiction novel

Mass Effect: Revelation is a science fiction novel by Drew Karpyshyn, who was the lead writer of the Mass Effect series. Published in 2007 by Del Rey Books, it is the first novel set in the Mass Effect universe, and the prequel to the Mass Effect video game by BioWare.

<i>Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic</i> Video game series

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) is a media franchise of space opera role-playing video games created and developed by BioWare, which have seen releases on the original Xbox, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, IOS, Android and Nintendo Switch. The franchise takes place in the fictional universe of Star Wars by George Lucas.

<i>Star Wars: The Old Republic</i> 2011 video game

Star Wars: The Old Republic is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based in the Star Wars universe. Developed by BioWare Austin and a supplemental team at BioWare Edmonton, the game was announced on October 21, 2008. The video game was released for the Microsoft Windows platform on December 20, 2011 in North America and part of Europe. It was released in Oceania and Asia on March 1, 2012.

Casey Hudson is a Canadian video game developer, known for his work on several of BioWare's video games, and mainly the Mass Effect trilogy as game director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gaider</span> Canadian writer and game designer

David Gaider is a Canadian narrative designer and writer. He was the lead writer and creator of the setting for the role-playing video game series Dragon Age.

<i>Baldurs Gate: Siege of Dragonspear</i> 2016 video game expansion pack

Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear is an expansion pack for the role-playing video game Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition developed and published by Beamdog. The expansion was the first new original content to the Baldur's Gate series released after more than 10 years, and its plot takes place between the events of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Gameplay remained similar to Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, although a class, companions and areas have been added. Siege of Dragonspear received mixed to positive reviews by video game publications who appreciated the return to the franchise after a long hiatus. It received backlash from some consumers who criticized the general quality of the writing and the introduction of a transgender non-playable character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archetype Entertainment</span> American video game developer

Archetype Entertainment is an American video game development studio established as a division of game publisher Wizards of the Coast, itself a subsidiary of Hasbro. The Austin, Texas-based studio was created by Wizards in April 2019 to develop new intellectual property outside of Wizards' existing Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering franchises. Archetype is notable for having drawn talent from BioWare; Studio Head, James Ohlen, who had previously worked on Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games such as the Baldur's Gate series among other titles along with Chad Robertson and Drew Karpyshyn.

References

  1. ↑ "Star Wars: Imperial City Online > Interview with Drew Karpyshyn". 2016-05-31. Archived from the original on 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  2. ↑ "FAQ | Drew Karpyshyn". 2015-10-02. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Karpyshyn, Drew". Contemporary Authors . January 1, 2007. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Drew Karpyshyn". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009.
  5. ↑ Gelinas, Ben (September 16, 2008). "Spinning a gripping ... game". Edmonton Journal . Archived from the original on April 25, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Pixels, Panels, and Prose Colloquium at University of Texas at Tyle April 14". US Fed News Service. April 15, 2012. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  7. ↑ "4th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Conference . Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  8. ↑ Zacharias, Yvonne (February 18, 2008). "Mass Effect dominates as game of the year: Science fiction video, made by Edmonton company, cleans up at Elan Awards". The Vancouver Sun . p. D1.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Drew Karpyshyn Creative Works". drewkarpyshyn.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 "Bio - Drew Karpyshyn". drewkarpyshyn.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  11. ↑ Chalk, Andy (September 21, 2015). "Mass Effect lead writer Drew Karpyshyn returns to BioWare". PC Gamer . Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  12. ↑ Chalk, Andy (14 June 2017). "Mass Effect 1 and 2 lead writer Drew Karpyshyn is working on Anthem". PC Gamer . Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  13. 1 2 Purchese, Robert (12 March 2018). "Writer Drew Karpyshyn leaves BioWare for a second time". Eurogamer . Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  14. ↑ Wales, Matt (February 12, 2020). "Mass Effect lead writer Drew Karpyshyn joins ex-BioWare vets' new Wizards of the Coast studio". Eurogamer . Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  15. ↑ "J! Archive - Show #3577, aired 2000-03-07". J! Archive.
  16. ↑ "Taking a Knee with 303: Drew Karpyshyn". 303magazine.com. September 27, 2012.
  17. ↑ "A Word with New York Times Best Selling Author and NFL Fan Drew Karpyshyn". The Warren Peace NFL Report. January 14, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Drew Karpyshyn's New Novel Revealed". Star Wars: The Old Republic | News Articles.
  19. ↑ "Mass Effect novelizations". BioWare. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.