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Is this the end for BioWare as we know them?
- Thread starter Gaiff
- Start date
WhiteWaterM00se
Member
I actually think it is, i do wonder if EA has BIOWARE REMAKE Mass Effect 1 as opposed to making a new Mass Effect.
If it fails, it would likely be the end of the studio.
If it fails, it would likely be the end of the studio.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Andromeda wasn’t that bad of a game.
I hope it’s not the end for BioWare. They need to clean house. Dump the awful writers, and hire actual fans of the games they develop.
I hope it’s not the end for BioWare. They need to clean house. Dump the awful writers, and hire actual fans of the games they develop.
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Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
EA has poured A LOT of money into their projects over the past decade and it seems that none of them came even close to meeting expectations. Hell, it's almost guaranteed that Veilguard and Anthem never turned or will never turn a profit. It's also possible Andromeda wasn't profitable.
Just how many chances are they gonna get? It's not uncommon to see a studio get axed after one big failure. That's 3 consecutive ones in BioWare's case.
Varteras
Member
Cert.in.Death
Member
No, they're on to the next Mass Effect.
But I could envision a situation where EA unloads the studio and sells it to the existing managerial staff or to an outside investment group.
But I could envision a situation where EA unloads the studio and sells it to the existing managerial staff or to an outside investment group.
MLSabre
Member
Considering EA's reputation of killing studios, Bioware has long past its expiration date.
Hawkeye2890
Member
Man I remember being so, so hyped for anthem. I still don’t understand what happened there. The mechanics seem solid. I feel like they should have stuck with the reboot idea they briefly had. People still play the game in an almost unfinished state.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
As we know them? The end for Bioware as we knew them was arguably Dragon Age: Origins. Mass Effect 2 was good, but was basically just an action game - any notions of building a genuine RPG had fizzled by that point. After that, they'd turned a corner in terms of quality and simply weren't the same studio.
Which happens - the same people who made a studio great aren't going to stick around forever. Either way, we haven't just reached the conclusion of Bioware as we knew it - it's been dead for a decade and a half.
Which happens - the same people who made a studio great aren't going to stick around forever. Either way, we haven't just reached the conclusion of Bioware as we knew it - it's been dead for a decade and a half.
PaddyOCanager
Member
As we know them?
laynelane
Member
I'm surprised EA has let them limp along so far with those three high-profile failures under their belt. It could be there was some leeway with Anthem because, iirc, that was made at EA's insistence - no one at the time thought that putting a studio known for single-player RPGs on a GaaS project was a good idea, but EA was after that recurring revenue. There's no such excuse for Andromeda and Veilguard, though.
I'm not sure we'll see much more of them, tbh. EA is typically ruthless when it comes to shutting down under performing studios so it may only be a matter of time. Certainly it's doubtful that a great or even good ME game come could from such a studio even if they were allowed to release another one.
I'm not sure we'll see much more of them, tbh. EA is typically ruthless when it comes to shutting down under performing studios so it may only be a matter of time. Certainly it's doubtful that a great or even good ME game come could from such a studio even if they were allowed to release another one.
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AeonGaidenRaiden
Member
You guys need to understand that the people who work in companies like Bioware/Blizzard/EA are completely different people than the ones that made your classics. Those people left long ago so its not that they refuse to make the game you want, its because the people who gave those games any attention to detail and soul are gone from the company.
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Majormaxxx
Member
It's joever for them. Used to love them.
Mister Wolf
Member
It's the end of Bioware as we know it, and i feel fine.
Crystal Winters
Member
I have mixed feelings about it. As I understand it, there older games always had LGBT rep and other things, but they still knew that they had to be fun games with good stories. I want to see that, see them have a redemption arc.
If they do not though and continue the way they have, then they deserve to be shut down.
If they do not though and continue the way they have, then they deserve to be shut down.
kruis
Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
That picture becomes even worse if you add these two canceled games to those three consecutive flops. They were properly announced by Bioware/EA (so they must have been pretty far along in development) but ultimately canceled.
Dr.D00p
Member
They won't survive unless they trim the blue haired activist types amongst their teams who've been allowed to prioritise their agendas over the games...and that's the fault of weak and feeble management too scared to stand up to them for fear of being accused of phobic attitudes.
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Inspector Q
Member
The sad part is that I think I actually prefer DA2 to DAI (didn't play the newest slop). But yeah, when my friends and I played the demo for DA2 we were freaking confused as hell. What the hell did they do? Everything seemed worse...animations, battle mechanics, enemy designs, environments, storytelling, the UI. It was just a bizarre experience to see such a gigantic step backwards from the previous game.
I can say the same thing for ME3. Not nearly as polished as ME2. Going to go off on a rant here, lol. So one of the things that I used to enjoy doing with ME2 was checking out the cool skyboxes they came up with for each different planet. The Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC had what might be my favorite skybox ever:
Anyway, fast forward to ME3 and we get that mission to go to Mars. I am like "Hey, cool...let's see what they do with a skybox for one of our own solar system's planets". I get there and look up and couldn't believe my eyes, lol. They made it a static painting of orange/brown clouds. Looked like some shitty spray paint or something. I uninstalled the game in disgust and didn't go back to it until a year later.
All this is to say...I basically agree with others that the Bioware we used to know is long gone, unfortunately. There was a time when these guys were the best of the best. You just knew you were going to get a quality game. Similar to Blizzard, actually. That hasn't been the case for a looong time.
One last thought...but I feel like Mass Effect has to be one of the biggest fumbles in the history of gaming? I feel like it should be one of the biggest franchises in gaming today. Instead, it and Bioware are on life support. They had so much momentum with ME2 and no one else was really doing this sort of Space Opera RPG. Then they completely botched ME3 and followed it up with a joke of a game in Andromeda. A disaster of intergalactic proportions.
ChuckeRearmed
Gold Member
The company Bioware is Bioware in name only. It has been like that for years.
Considering how dreadful was DA4, imagine how bad ME is going to be with the current staff
Considering how dreadful was DA4, imagine how bad ME is going to be with the current staff
Wishmaster92
Member
I hope so, this new gen woke BioWare is abysmal
Hudo
Gold Member
All I can say is that EA have shut down Origin Systems for far, far, faaar, fewer and far less costly failures. Same with Westwood. Same with Bullfrog. Same with Pandemic.
So either some higher up at BioWare has dirt on Andrew Wilson or Wilson is even more deluded than I thought.
So either some higher up at BioWare has dirt on Andrew Wilson or Wilson is even more deluded than I thought.
MALpractice311
Member
If Mass Effect 5 bombs, I can't see any way they'll survive. They've had like 10 years now of financial disasters.
I just wish the original team could have the Mass Effect IP back.
I just wish the original team could have the Mass Effect IP back.
Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
Yep. Total slop house now.
KungFucius
King Snowflake
It wasn't and neither was Veilguard. The writing wasn't terrible in either case just not great. Something about the games and their plots just seem superficial when combined with the gameplay loops. The Trans stuff in Veilguard was just weird and very out of place in an end of the world setting.
But I am starting to feel that way about all long, story heavy games. Maybe they are just too samey. I am currently playing BG3 after holding off due to its length and I am kind of bored with that even though the writing is great. I kind of think the game should have been released in parts. I am starting to think Nintendo was right all along to make the story content light in their games.
JimmyRustler
Member
BioWare dies when Muzyka and Zeschuk left. EA may as well close the studio as I doubt it’ll get better.
TheDreadLord
Member
BioWare games are a high-risk, high-reward for EA. When they succeed, they can do really well, but when they fail, they tend to fail hard. Given this, I believe EA will keep the studio afloat at least until ME5 is released. It seems that EA management somehow still has faith in BioWare.
To be honest, Veilguard is probably their most technically impressive work since ME2, so I can understand why EA sees potential in the studio. However, considering that Veilguard underperformance, it’s likely that BioWare no longer will have the creative freedom they once had. Moving forward, EA will likely keep a much closer eye on their projects.
To be honest, Veilguard is probably their most technically impressive work since ME2, so I can understand why EA sees potential in the studio. However, considering that Veilguard underperformance, it’s likely that BioWare no longer will have the creative freedom they once had. Moving forward, EA will likely keep a much closer eye on their projects.
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It may not be the literal end of the studio but it should be the end for everyone expecting anything from them. They do not deserve any benefit of the doubt and no one should expect their next game to be good or exciting. I'll be highly critical of any media outlet trying to hype up what they do next.
MadchesterManc
Member
I thought 'the end of Bioware as we know them' had already happened a few times before.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Inquisition was alright.
STARSBarry
Gold Member
As someone who got Andromeda day -3 (they had a headstart thing for preordering and having an EA play subscription) I respectfully disagree. You can say the bionics systems was better, and the gunplay was improved, but that's only a small component of a game. Everything else was pretty much the worst it had ever been. This was never a gameplay first series, although it was refined into something very enjoyable by the end.
Game was shit, it failed hard because of that, it was that bad.
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DirtInUrEye
Member
Just get rid of the pronouns and reinstate the bewbs and all will be fine. I don't play their games myself, but the winning formula seems quite straightforward.
Warspite
Member
I always wondered if the PAPA EA meme has somehow reached the top of EA cause you wonder how many misses BioWare can have.
hemo memo
You can't die before your death
I would honestly just cut BioWare's budget and put it into EA's indie initiatives. Better and faster games come from that than whatever BioWare would come up with. EA had my respect as long as they keep funding Josef and other indie studios with games like Lost in Random and Unravel.
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