It appears as though BioWare is busy at work on "something" for Dragon Age, and that "something" has a majority of the Jade Empire "vision holders" working on it.
BioWare's Creative Director, Mike Laidlaw, sat down to speak on a number of BioWare-related things in a podcast called 'The 1099'. Towards the end of the podcast, around an hour in, the podcast host brought up the question of whether or not there is a market for Jade Empire 2 and whether or not it's a series that could see a resurrection.
Laidlaw made it clear that at some point, BioWare'certainly had some plans' for Jade Empire 2 and that in some way 'it existed.' The creative director went on to clarify that there's a clear path for Jade Empire 2, but it's been put on the back burner.
"Jade Empire 2 was talked about, it was certainly considered. In a universe where there could be a Beyond Good and Evil 2 14 years later, I think it's very possible there could still be a Jade [Empire] 2. If someone said to me, 'Hey what would you do with Jade [Empire] 2?' I have an answer. I have a very clear answer in my head, but I also recognize that a majority of the leadership of Jade Empire 2, the people who are really the passionate vision holders, are all on Dragon Age."
In Laidlaw's words, "Dragon Age is fairly distracting" but it is not the reason that Jade Empire 2 isn't in development.
He went on to explain that Dragon Age didn't kill Jade Empire, but the developers from the series are actively engaged in the "something" for Dragon Age. Unfortunately, Laidlaw wouldn't go into details on what that "something" for Dragon Age is, except for the fact they are hiring 'a lot of people'.
