Jade Empire 2 on the way?

Whilst most of the recent BioWare rumour-mongering has revolved around the possibility of

another instalment

to the successful Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic series, the latest speculation claims that the

EA-owned

developer is already hard at work on Jade Empire 2.

The original Jade Empire was released on Xbox in 2005, and whilst its critical reception was mixed, it secured a loyal following amongst RPG and BioWare fans. As well as offering a lush Eastern fantasy world, it also boasted a number of different martial art style that players could learn and use in combat.

The Mercury News’ Dean Takahashi claims that: I talked with someone who saw code for Jade Empire 2. It’s coming for the Xbox 360, and it’s real.

"It will be interesting to see if Jade Empire 2 will remain an exclusive for the Xbox 360, now that Electronic Arts has agreed to acquire BioWare/Pandemic. And we all know how EA loves to do cross-platform games to maximize profits from a single property.”