Did BioWare work on Jade Empire 2?

Jade Empire™: Special Edition

Step into the role of an aspiring martial-arts master and follow the path of the open palm or the closed fist.

It appears BioWare does more than talk about a Jade Empire sequel - an ex-employee claims he worked on Jade Empire 2 between 2006 and 2007.

Rafael Brown, now a project lead at id Software, listed "Jade Empire 2 (360/PS3/PC)" under the unreleased games he's worked on. He also mentioned True Crime 3&4, Gun 2 and Nintendo's Thunder Rally.

That one year and one month Brown spent at BioWare, between 2006-2007, pre-dates the release of Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins, as well as the acquisition by EA.

How far along the Jade Empire 2 project was, Brown didn't say; it might have been purely conceptual.

It's a leap of faith to believe Jade Empire 2 would have materialised on PS3, given that BioWare didn't enter Sony's market until late 2009, with the release of Dragon Age: Origins.

The original Jade Empire, a martial arts game inspired by ancient China, was released on Xbox in 2004. Eurogamer awarded a healthy 8/10.

Eurogamer quizzed lead Jade Empire writer Mike Laidlaw recently about the possibility of a new Jade Empire game.

"The thing with Jade Empire is ultimately it's one of our intellectual properties, it's there, and one that we're intensely proud of. It did such a neat job of building this fantastical world," said Laidlaw.

"Currently obviously nothing is announced. It's one of those things that long-term, Jade [Empire] could make a comeback."

"It may," he added, "but we'll see how time goes."

Video: Jade Empire: Special Edition for PC.