Shadow Realms is the next game from BioWare Austin

Shadow Realms is the next game to come out of BioWare Austin, general manager Jeff Hickman announced during today's EA press event.

The new  role-playing game is influenced by old-school pen-and-paper games, Hickman explained. Shadow Realms will feature online and dynamic four-player co-op against a single playable enemy who controls "every aspect of the game."

In the game, four heroes will  "adventure against" another player-controlled enemy called The Shadowlord.

BioWare promise a continuously updated story with "an ever changing world" that ensures no two trips into the "Realm" will ever be the same. Likewise, the company will reveal the game's overarching narrative in episodic releases that will play out "like a TV series."

"This game brings us back to our roots in the realm of classic Pen and Paper RPG, but also delivers something that's completely new and innovative for our fans," said Hickman. "Shadow Realms is a new BioWare RPG that has the hallmarks of all BioWare games with a rich story, a unique world setting and deep combat progression, but built as an interactive experience that evolves the genre and broadens the appeal to online gamers all over the world."

According to the press release,  "Modern Heroes on Earth are being awakened and recruited, because of magical powers they never knew they had, to fight in a new and dangerous war against the Shadow Legions of Embra. The Shadow Legions, who have been battling on Embra for years against the members of the Radiant Empires, have gained new strength with the coming of a powerful, unknown force that we call the Shadowlords. And, they have just figured out how to leave Embra and invade Earth."

This follows the release of a teaser video today for the new IP, which arrived last month on the company's official YouTube. The 40-second long teaser, which you can check out here, shows little more than a man running down an alley and later attempt to break into a car that his doppelganger is already driving. The teaser cuts to a number of surreal scenes including a man in a suit with smoke for a face.

Shadow Realms will come to Windows PC late next year.