It seems like all that hype was for nothing, as BioWare has cancelled their BioWare Austin-developed four-on-one online RPG, Shadow Realms.

While a real explanation behind the cancellation was not given, the studio did say it was because there were “other projects for the team to work on.” BioWare Austin is going to keep developing Star Wars: The Old Republic, which they reportedly have “great plans” for this year.

BioWare is looking for a way to thank everyone who signed up for the closed alpha of Shadow Realms, although details for that will come later.

You can find the full statement from BioWare Austin general manager Jeff Hickman below:

Today I’m sharing some important news about Shadow Realms and our BioWare Austin studio.

We’ve made the decision to not move forward with development of Shadow Realms. We fully recognize that this news is disappointing to some of our fans, so I want to explain more behind this decision.

While the team did amazing work on the game concept and we got lots of great feedback from our fans at events and through other game testing, right now there are other projects for the team to work on within the BioWare studios for the coming year and beyond. We’ve got an incredibly talented team here at the Austin studio, and they are excited and already deep on new projects within the BioWare family, ones that will make some great BioWare games even better.

These include additional ongoing enhancements to the award-winning Dragon Age: Inquisition, as well as the next game in the Mass Effect series and other new IP.

But the biggest focus for our team in BioWare Austin will be on Star Wars: The Old Republic. As every Star Wars fan knows, this is a massive year in the Star Wars universe. We have some great plans for expanding this epic game this year, and look forward to sharing the news about those plans with our players in the coming weeks.

For all the people that registered for the Shadow Realms Closed Alpha, we’re working on a way to say thank-you for signing up. To all those players that gave us feedback at Gamescom and PAX, and those that shared their thoughts and impressions in the past months, we thank you for being part of the conversation.

Jeff Hickman
General Manager, BioWare Austin