Last week's Game Developers Conference brought many surprises with it: the release date of the PlayStation VR, Microsoft setting gender equality in the gaming industry back several years, and the highly anticipated "LawBreakers" no longer being free-to-play.
However, another surprise has emerged: BioWare's new IP was revealed during the event - but no one noticed.
Apparently, BioWare's Senior Director of Creative Development, Alistair McNally, walked around the convention with a T-shirt containing a reference to the new IP. He broke the news on Twitter, saying "no one batted an eyelid" at his T-shirt.
Also it was fun to walk around GDC2016 in a t-shirt with our new IP on it and no one batted an eyelid.
— Alistair McNally (@Al_McNally) March 18, 2016
This is where things get tricky. McNally declined to mention whether the T-shirt in question had the game's name, logo or both, on it. Furthermore, the GDC schedule indicates that he wasn't slated to appear on any panels during the event.
With that in mind, interested gamers around the Internet, as well as those on the BioWare forums have taken it upon themselves to find an image of McNally's T-shirt. However their search has turned up inconclusive so far. With that lack of evidence some have even gone on to assume that he didn't wear the shirt in question, and the entire thing is just a hoax.
@Al_McNally um... At risk of sounding like I'm 13, pics or it didn't happen? — Greg Madden (@GregMadden4) March 20, 2016
So what is this mysterious IP? The game was officially announced in September 2012, with BioWare saying it was being built from the ground up running on "new gaming technology." Almost two years later at E3 2014, Bioware released a trailer for the game, while also saying it is designed to tell "contemporary stories, and yet we want to build a world that is as big and as imaginative as anything we've ever done before."
We also know that the game is being developed by most of the "core team" responsible for 2003's "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic."
Similarly, we know what it is not. We know that its not "Mass Effect: Andromeda," since not only do we know its name, but we also know that its being made in Montreal, whereas this new IP is being made in Edmonton. Likewise, we know its not "Shadow Realms," because that IP was already cancelled last year.
Regardless of what the IP is, the news of the IP alone has turned much of the gaming community on its head. Well played, McNally, well played.
