Chris Avellone, who became a pariah in the videogame industry following accusations of sexual misconduct in 2020 that were ultimately resolved in his favor, has joined new studio Republic Games, which was founded in 2024 by former Quantic Dream lead writer Adam Williams.
"Chris has written, created, and designed for some of the greatest RPGs of all time," Williams wrote on LinkedIn. "He’s a master of interactive storytelling. On our list of people to work with, he was at the top."
"Chris was at the forefront of the golden age of RPGs. We are creating a dark fantasy story with immersive gameplay and a rich interactive narrative which aims to recapture that magic—and take it to the next level."
Republic's debut game is currently unannounced, but "will feature a rich, interesting story with lots of meaningful choices, branches, and endings," Williams told Eurogamer. "Our world will feature a totalitarian regime seeking to crush a rebellion, with competing factions and allegiances the player can join, giving them the full freedom to create the hero—or antihero—they want to be.
"There is also a deep undercurrent of prophecy and the supernatural which will elevate the player's adventure into the realms of mythology. But in addition to the narrative, we also have full, classic RPG gameplay including combat, character creation, recruitable companions, romances and more."
Avellone said he asked if he could work on the new game after Williams "shared his vision and design" for it, and Williams "was more than willing to bring [him] on board as part of the team."
"I love the design principles he's outlining for the game, and even better, I love the narrative construction he's implementing as well," Avellone said. "To be a part of it on the ground floor is pretty amazing, and it's a rare opportunity in the industry."
Avellone does indeed have an impressive list of writing and design credits to his name, on games including Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, Fallout: New Vegas, Knights of the Old Republic 2, and a whole bunch more. He left Obsidian Entertainment in 2015 but his reputation as a writer kept him in demand, and he continued to contribute to numerous projects as a freelancer.
That largely came to an end following the 2020 accusations of sexual misconduct, however, as studios moved quickly to end their association with him. Avellone filed a libel lawsuit over the allegations in 2021, and in 2023 the suit was settled with a "seven-figure payment" to Avellone and a formal retraction of the claim by two of his accusers.
