Although it’s not exactly a surprise, it appears that a sequel for the highly-acclaimed RPG “Jade Empire” is currently in the works at BioWare.

The merger with Pandemic Studios or this year's acquisition by Electronic Arts didn’t affect KOTOR creators’ plans for a sequel to one of the best games for Xbox in 2005.

According to Dean Takahashi from Mercury News, the team behind Jade Empire 1 is already working at Jade Empire 2. The latter will allegedly be an Xbox 360 exclusive, with Microsoft having already acquired exclusive rights to publish it.

Takahashi implies that he talked to “someone who saw code for Jade Empire 2. It’s coming for the Xbox 360, and it’s real”.

However, Microsoft’s plans for exclusivity could be hindered by EA’s move to buy BioWare/Pandemic. Just as in Mass Effect’s case, EA could force the publication of Jade Empire 2 on multiple platforms (including the PlayStation 3), considering also the fact that the original Xbox title came on the PC early last year. “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,” writes Takahashi.