Grandia (video game)
In March 1999, Game Art's Japanese publisher ESP Software showcased a PlayStation version of "Grandia" at that year's Tokyo Game Show expo, along with confirmation that the game would be released in English for the first time in North America by Sony Computer Entertainment America. Working Designs, which had previously worked with Game Arts on bringing their "Lunar" games to the region, had expressed interest in publishing the game, but were ultimately unable to secure the rights. New features for the PlayStation version included support for the system's DualShock analog control sticks and vibration function, as well as compatibility with Sony's Japanese-only PocketStation peripheral, which allows players to download game data on a portable device for use in a special mini-game. Although the company had expressed interest in bringing the game to the PlayStation as early as 1998, technical problems originally prevented the title from being ported to the system. Game Arts was later able to release the game with a slight loss in frame rate and a marginal decrease in video effects the following June. The North American version was originally announced by Sony as a summer release during the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, but was pushed back to the following October. "Grandia" was later released for the PlayStation in Europe in 2000 by Ubisoft.
List of BioWare video games
BioWare was given the opportunity to work on another popular intellectual property, "Star Wars", when LucasArts approached them at the turn of the millennium.
"" released first on Microsoft's Xbox video game console in 2003. While it was not BioWare's first console game, it helped the studio break into the console market since Microsoft Game Studios wanted to partner with them on console exclusive titles, such as "Jade Empire" (2005) and "Mass Effect" (2007). In March 2006, BioWare expanded their operations and opened a new studio in Austin, Texas, to helm the development of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). In October 2007, American publisher Electronic Arts (EA) announced that it had acquired BioWare. Under EA, BioWare established the fantasy RPG series "Dragon Age", continued to release games in their science fiction RPG series "Mass Effect", and opened a new studio in Montreal. They also revisited the "Star Wars" franchise with BioWare Austin's MMORPG "" (2011).