Jade Empire is an epic martial arts action RPG created by BioWare Corp., the commercially and critically acclaimed RPG developer of Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Neverwinter Nights™, and the Baldur's Gate™ series. Developed with a next-generation Xbox engine, Jade Empire will deliver a stunning visual and gameplay experience. Jade Empire will be published by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for the Xbox video game system with a planned April 14th 2005 North American release, with worldwide distribution to follow shortly thereafter.

Jade Empire will include such great and compelling features as:

Epic story set in a world inspired by the myths and legends of ancient China.
Jade Empire immerses you in a deep, rich storyline in the tradition of the BioWare-developed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Sinister events upset the peaceful harmony of an isolated martial arts school and draw you into a story that unfolds with drama, action, and adventure. Detailed followers and other non-player characters enrich the adventure by providing comic relief, rivalries, flirtations, and hostility. Stare in awe at the sweeping views of the lush environments, sheer vertical drops, and overpowering scale that provide the visual backdrop to the story. Confront wild outlaws, demonic incarnations, and other foul villains that protect the Jade Empire's darkest secrets.

Become a martial arts master!
Using the knowledge gained in crafting multiple story-based role playing games, BioWare sends you on a journey to become a martial arts master. Choose a character with a unique appearance and quirks, a custom voice set, and a powerful combination of ability scores and fighting styles. You can choose to act for good or evil, and these decisions build your reputation, which precedes you throughout the land, changing the course of interaction with other characters and followers. Take the role of a master of martial arts, and recruit followers to your cause in an interactive, living world.

Innovative fighting system.
Master fighting styles and mystical powers. Jade Empire provides a gameplay experience with the tempo and fury normally found in Hong Kong cinema favorites such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Bruce Lee classics. As you journey through Jade Empire, you can upgrade your starting combat style or learn entirely new styles to tailor a character for your specific gameplay preferences. Select from dozens of fighting styles, including (for example) martial arts styles (Legendary Strike, Leaping Tiger), magic styles (Tempest, Dire Flame), transformation styles, and weapon styles (Twin Axes, Staff, and improvised weapons like chairs). Each style has its own tactical role and attacks that range from punches and kicks to weapon strikes, mystical powers, and even transformations into supernatural monsters! You can focus on a narrow channel of styles and become dominant in these forms or broaden your area of study to include a wide variety of styles adaptable to many combat situations. Combat is fast-paced martial arts action, and it is exciting and tactical as you rapidly switch fighting styles to meet diverse challenges.