An open-world RPG based on Robert Jordan’s 14-book fantasy series The Wheel of Time is in the works, 20 years after Red Eagle Entertainment, now rebranded as iwot Studios, acquired the rights to make games based on the series.
Variety reports the game will be a “AAA open-world role-playing game” developed wholly in-house by iwot Studios, led by former Warner Bros. Games VP of product development Craig Alexander. The studio is projecting a three-year development cycle for the game, which is slated to release on consoles and PC.
It’s part of the studio’s plan to expand The Wheel of Time across film, television, and gaming, which it also owns the rights to. Dev iwot Studios has already served as a producer on Amazon’s Wheel of Time TV series, as well as on an upcoming film called Age of Legends and a 3D-animated Wheel of Time film currently in development. CEO Rick Selvage told Variety that there will be synergy between upcoming film projects and the game, but that the game would cover the entirety of Jordan’s world.
“It’s an open-world game, and it’ll be everything with the Wheel of Time,” Selvage said. “Everything that is covered in the books, as well as all the backstory elements of it. As we build out the world, it’ll be the entire Wheel of Time World, it’s not going to be limited to one area or another or a particular age.”
Back in 2008, when iwot was still known as Red Eagle Entertainment, the studio said it had partnered with well-known RPG experts Obsidian Entertainment to help build a game based on Wheel of Time. The game was originally planned for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. At the time, an MMORPG based on Wheel of Time was also said to be in the works, along with a live-action film from Universal Studios.
Obviously, none of those projects came to pass, so it remains to be seen whether or not this Wheel of Time open-world RPG will come to fruition. Variety notes that Alexander is currently building the studio’s leadership team, which will be based in Montreal.
Those looking to finally get into Jordan’s massive book series (the last three of which were written by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s death in 2007) currently have a cheap way to do so, as every Wheel of Time book, and two companion books, are currently $18 on Humble Bundle.
