‘Mass Effect’ creator hits out at "soulless" AI and 100 hour+ games
Hudson said the game will use branching storylines and contractors, while avoiding generative AI and 100-hour campaigns.
- Hudson is developing Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic at Arcanaut Studios, rejecting generative AI as "creatively soulless" and "unhelpful" to the development process targeting a release before 2030.
- GreaterThan Group, led by former NetEase executive Simon Zhu, backs the project with $40 million in cash and roughly $60 million in funding commitments. Arcanaut Studios was founded six months before its December 2025 announcement at The Game Awards.
- Hudson questions whether players finish act one after 20 hours in 200-hour games like Elden Ring or Crimson Desert. He prefers shorter, replayable experiences where players can actually complete the narrative.
- Competing Star Wars projects—Eclipse and the Knights of the Old Republic remake—have remained in development since at least 2021 with few public updates. Hudson's approach contrasts sharply with their extended timelines.
- To keep costs lean, the team plans to utilize contractors rather than hiring large in-house staff. Branching storylines will drive replayability throughout the single-player RPGs, offering multiple narrative paths through the galaxy.
17 Articles
17 Articles
‘Mass Effect’ creator hits out at "soulless" AI and 100 hour+ games
Mass Effect creator Casey Hudson has hit out at the use of “soulless” AI in video games and isn’t a fan of titles that take hundreds of hours to complete. READ MORE: ‘Crimson Desert’ review: overwhelmingly ambitious open-world fantasy Hudson is currently working on new Star Wars game Fate Of The Old Republic, which is set to launch sometime before 2030. However, he won’t be relying on generative AI to help meet that deadline. “I just find AI to…
'A Lot of Players Just Want to Play Something and Finish It' — Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic Developer Promises It Won't Be Hundreds of Hours Long
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic won't be another bloated single-player game that takes over half a decade to develop, game director Casey Hudson has insisted. Via an interview with Bloomberg, we learned a few new details about the highly anticipated Star Wars RPG, which aims to be a spiritual successor to BioWare's much-loved Knights of the Old Republic. Hudson talked a bit about the aspirations for the final product, both for how long it wi…
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic won't be a 100+ hour RPG
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic won't be a sprawling RPG that takes you more than 100 hours to finish. That's been confirmed by none other than the game's director, Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic veteran Casey Hudson. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Hudson explained that he believes a game going for 100+ hours of playtime just to finish it can be a detriment to drumming up hype. "Bigger isn't necessarily bet…
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic will not be an extended RPG that will take you more than 100 hours to finish. This has been confirmed by nothing less than the game’s director, the veteran of Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Ancient Republic, Casey Hudson. In an interview given to Bloomberg, Hudson explained that he believes that a game of more than 100 hours of duration just to finish it can be harmful to create expectation. “Greate…
"I just find AI to be creatively soulless": Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic director Casey Hudson won't use AI because he's "really unimpressed with it"
Casey Hudson, director of the upcoming RPG Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, has noted its devs have no plans to use AI while making the game.
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