BioWare Announces Handheld Division, DS Project

Representatives from BioWare (Jade Empire, Mass Effect) have revealed the formation of a new division focused on the development of handheld games. The group's first project will be for the Nintendo DS system, and marks BioWare's debut in the handheld game space. Little is known about the upcoming game, as well as future plans for the newly announced handheld division, which will be led by project director, Dan Tudge, former president and founder of independent developer Exile Interactive. Exile has co-developed titles designed by Visual Concepts and Blue Shift for Sega, including World Series Baseball 2K2 for the Dreamcast, and more recently World Series Baseball 2K3 for both the Xbox and PlayStation 2. Tudge has also overseen development of titles for publishers such as Nintendo, Microsoft, THQ and Sega Sports. "As always, we are committed to creating the best story-driven games in the world, and the Nintendo DS offers us an exciting new platform to engage," said Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare. "The new project offers tremendous opportunities, and we're looking for talented and passionate developers to become part of that." BioWare has begun to actively recruit talent for its new handheld team. The company also currently working on the action adventure game Mass Effect for the Xbox 360, as well as an unspecified new massively multiplayer title the company's recently founded MMO-focused BioWare Austin studio.