Ex-BioWare boss Casey Hudson's new studio promises to 'combine excellence in the arts with advanced sciences'

Casey Hudson
(Image credit: Casey Hudson)

Former BioWare general manager Casey Hudson, who resigned from the studio in December 2020, has unveiled his next project: Humanoid Studios, a new outfit that promises to "combine excellence in the arts with advanced sciences to deliver the future of interactive entertainment."

"Today we are announcing a new independent videogame company built to unleash the creative freedom of developers—bringing innovation and artistry to players through an all-new IP," Hudson tweeted. "We are Humanoid Studios. This is the first tiny step in our journey, and we hope you'll come along with us on the adventure."

The investor-focused talk about innovation and IPs is about as inspiring as finding an old sock under the sink, but there is legitimate excitement for Hudson's return to the business after his surprise departure from BioWare.

Messages of support also came from BioWare co-founder and Beamdog boss Trent Oster, BioWare writer Patrick Weekes, and former BioWare community manager Chris Priestly.

Hudson said nothing specific about what Humanoid Studios is working on, and the website at humanoidstudios.com is also devoid of detail. The job listings, for posts including senior gameplay programmer, senior creative director, and senior level designer, don't shed much light either: Applicants are required to have experience developing triple-A games, ideally with the Unreal Engine, but the game itself is described in only the vaguest possible terms as "an immersive new universe of story, character, and discovery."

It's a little disappointing that we don't have more detail, but it's also understandable at this stage in the process: The job descriptions are focused on supporting pre-production and prototyping and "exploration of game design concepts as part of developing our new IP," which makes it clear that things are still in an extremely early state. "Story, character, and discovery" does at least imply an RPG or something RPG-adjacent, though, and that would fit with Hudson's past work: During his time at BioWare he served as the project director on the Mass Effect trilogy, and prior to that was a designer and producer on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and programmer on Baldur's Gate 2.

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
Starfield's companion robot giving a thumbs-up
Former Bethesda dev who quit Starfield to go solo says it's 'much less stressful as an indie' without daily meetings or 'office politics': it's 'very refreshing to just care about the game'
Rook, Neve, Emmrich, Lucanis, and the rest of their alliance stand together
BioWare veterans confirm they were laid off by EA, including senior Dragon Age and Mass Effect devs
A mish-mash of fantasy and modern-day characters, including a Viking, a necromancer, and a businessman
Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser's new project looks like nothing special, to be perfectly honest
mass effect
Everything we know about the next Mass Effect game so far
mass effect romance - liara
Don't worry, Mass Effect 5 is totally fine, EA reassures as BioWare downsizes, moving 'many' employees to other studios
Mass Effect 4 teaser image
Former BioWare vet says the studio is focused on a single game 'for the first time maybe ever' with Mass Effect 5—and whether that's good or bad is anyone's guess
Latest in Gaming Industry
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year
A still from a video announcement of Game Informer's return, featuring the magazine's Halo 2 issue.
Game Informer is back from the dead: 'The whole team has returned'
Typing on internet search toolbar: What am I doing?
How a Microsoft exec managed to pitch Microsoft Word through the genius tactic of being able to actually use it in a 'type-off' demanded by clients: 'I was the only one who'd actually been a secretary'
Half-Life wallpaper - Gordon Freeman
Former Valve exec says the company struggled to sell Half-Life until coming up with the ultimate 'one simple trick' of marketing manoeuvres: slapping a 'Game of the Year' sticker on the box
Gabe Newell looks into the camera, behind him is a prop of a turret from Team Fortress 2.
Gabe Newell's cult of personality is intense, but a Valve exec who worked with him says his superpower is how he 'delighted in people on the team just being really good at what they did'
Latest in News
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway