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Once designed as a sequel to Bioware’s Jade Empire, Revolver was intended to expand the kind of game design Bioware was known for into an action-heavy open world, before it was quietly cancelled in 2008. First revealed to the public last year in Bioware’s book Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development, new concept art from Revolver shows some surprisingly Cyberpunk aesthetics.
Bioware art director Matt Rhodes recently posted a collection of the Revolver concept art to Instagram, detailing designs for heroes, enemies, antagonists, NPCs, and the world at large.
“Beginning its life as a sequel to Jade Empire, Revolver evolved and changed course many times throughout its development,” Rhodes’ caption reads. “It was recently revealed in more detail in the book ‘Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development’. To celebrate, I sifted through the archives and blew 15 years of dust off some of my favorite pieces from that project.”
The project was set in the near future, with much of the concept art seeming to pit sword-wielding heroes against antagonists with guns.
As reported by Eurogamer, Revolver was intended to bring Bioware’s story and character-focused game design to an open, sandbox world, where the story could be experienced in a non-linear fashion. It was in development between 2005 and 2008, with Rockstar alumni studio Big Sandwich Games called in to help, but was eventually cancelled as Bioware shifted its focus to the release of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2.
