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Anthem Producer Tries To Address Concern About Future Of BioWare; “We Are Getting Great Support"

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Oct 25, 2017
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Given the tweet the second one is in response to, my assumption is Michael Gamble means "great support from EA", which I'm sceptical about, but sure?

Regardless, my thoughts on Anthem aside, I do hope BioWare will stick around. I don't want them to be closed down.
 
ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
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Oct 25, 2017
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Bioware will stick around

maybe not the name, but they aren't going to fire everyone. EA needs that personnel if they want a consistent flow of games
 
Kyoufu

Kyoufu

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Oct 26, 2017
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I'm enjoying the game so I hope they will be able to support it long-term.
 
Outrun

Outrun

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Oct 30, 2017
5,781
I guess all is good then!

EA top brass ain't letting the devs know what they have planned. I hope that all is well.
 
Travless

Travless

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Mar 7, 2018
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I honestly would be shocked if BioWare got shut down. Anything is possible though with the current climate in the industry.
 
Bessy67

Bessy67

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Oct 29, 2017
11,558
The game is definitely rough around the edges but I'm having a blast with it so I hope they'll be able to keep working on it
 
MAX PAYMENT

MAX PAYMENT

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Oct 29, 2017
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Anthem is a game I want to try pretty bad, but havent because of the poor reception. I hope it gets turned around.
 
JCADX

JCADX

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Oct 29, 2017
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Somehow, those tweets imply that if the playerbase shrinks there might be trouble, but as long as people support Anthem and maintain healthy numbers, EA will let them support the game. EA didn´t care about cancelling planned content for Andromeda anyway.

It would be obvious to assume that EA is not happy with reviews, and who knows right now if sales will meet expectations (which were high to begin with) if things like Battlefront 2 and Battlefield V were considered "failures" selling a lot. I hope EA lets them polish the game and add content, because the core gameplay mechanics are great, but maybe needed more time in the oven before release.
 
Landford

Landford

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Dont forget they were telling people that the problems of the game folks were having on "Early Access" (Fuck that) would be fixed by the time the game launched on the 22nd. Dont go to the devs of the game for reassurance that things are going well or will be well in the future.

The game is an unmitigated disaster right now, of course they are not going to tell people they are afraid the studio will be shut down.
 
Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins

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Feb 10, 2018
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Have we got any sales figures from anthem yet?

This bioware person might say others like anthem, I'm sure they do, but the proof is in the pudding. This is a business after all.
 
sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

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Oct 25, 2017
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He's not exactly going to say "it's doing terrible, we're finished".

Hope they don't get the axe. Shoehorning bioware into making a GAAS was EA's fault, not theirs.
 
Slaythe

Slaythe

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Oct 25, 2017
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"Don't worry about us"

b4be4e243dbeb0ad84cf13a3a34d87d5.png


I'll worry alright.
On many levels.
 
Saucycarpdog

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Oct 25, 2017
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It's impossible to know what's gonna happen. EA could consider Bioware an integral part of the company or they could see them as another expendable studio. We'll never know until EA actually shows it one way or another.
 

Fanuilos

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Oct 27, 2017
4,121
Hope they can turn things around. I want to see what they have in mind for DA4 at least.
 
BDS

BDS

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Bioware will never be closed down because the brand name and concept is too valuable to EA. But that doesn't mean they won't gut the entire studio or something like that.
 
Freelance7

Freelance7

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Dec 20, 2018
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I doubt he would say they are being shut down or in threat of doing so. While EA's track record of shutting down companies is impeccable, I doubt they would just shut down Bioware, one of the most well known companies in the industry.

But all we can do is hope. No telling what will happen next until it does.
 
Gamer @ Heart

Gamer @ Heart

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Oct 26, 2017
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EA have invested way too much into the studio over the past few years. On top of that, they are in Canada and the recipient of numerous tax breaks. As poorly as anthem was received, it would take a catastrophic failure for EA to kill an entire arm of it's company. They already have issues with diversification in their games portfolio, closing Bioware would make it worse.

This isn't visceral studios in the middle of silicon valley level expense.
 
SofNascimento

SofNascimento

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Oct 28, 2017
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He is the guy that said something like "if you know what we have planned you will not let go of your ME3 copy", isn't he? They did do the extended cut, but the ending will forever be a negative mark in the trilogy. Unless EA fix the mistake in a remaster.
 
BrassDragon

BrassDragon

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Oct 26, 2017
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If he says anything else, it has shareholder value repercussions and that's just not acceptable to EA. I love these guys but that tweet is pretty meaningless.

Guess we'll know more in May when the Q4 EA earnings call happens.
 
MrHedin

MrHedin

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Dec 7, 2018
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I don't think Anthem will put Bioware in any danger of getting the axe. I do think that Bioware will probably have a shorter leash going forward. I don't how this is doing financially for EA (my guess is not as good as they think but better than we expect) but I have a hard time seeing EA let them spend this much time on their next big game.
 
Bombless

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Oct 25, 2017
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I forget, what did EA say about Andromeda to shareholders before quietly axing all support for it?
 
SPRidley

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BDS said:
Bioware will never be closed down because the brand name and concept is too valuable to EA. But that doesn't mean they won't gut the entire studio or something like that.
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Eh, im not thinking they are going to shut down soon, maybe just a big restructure and less carte blanche in future projects, but the brand name thing is not going to save Bioware if a shutdown is in EA future plans. Westwood, Bullfrog, Maxis... all those had a lot of brand recognition in its time, I would say Maxis had even more than Bioware, and they went the way of the dodo.
 
Asbsand

Asbsand

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Oct 30, 2017
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All they can do for now is to do what they have planned.

I sincerely hope they can make Anthem better enough that people will say it's great or even addictive, and if all else fails on the technical side; that the story DLC later in the year change their mind from their impression of Vanilla or something.

Cuz if they make it better enough I look forward to purchasing and I think a lot of people are just sleeping on it right now because they need to hear some positive buzz. From the outside the game has a sense of quality to it that seems to have been missed inside of the actual released product, and I am so on the fence for that.
 
Bricktop

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Bioware isn't going anywhere any time soon. Dragon Age 4 will be the game that redeems or destroys them. I'd expect some "restructuring" some time this year, though.
 
Nashira

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I don't think Gamble is privy to the financial and executive decision making at EA, let alone BioWare. He also said some conspicuous stuff that also amounted to nothing during the disaster of Mass Effect Andromeda. So yeah, I mean it's good that he feels this way, but I would be skeptical if this is a confirmation of anything
 
newmoneytrash

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Oct 25, 2017
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I bet it's exhausting working at Bioware having to constantly reaffirm you aren't getting shut down. These rumours have been going around for like a decade.

Bombless said:
I forget, what did EA say about Andromeda to shareholders before quietly axing all support for it?
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I can't remember if they said anything specifically about Andromeda, just that the Mass Effect franchise will continue
 
SPRidley

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Oct 25, 2017
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Eolz said:
That was my point.
Edit: and they also actually completely close studios, there's more actual dead studios than husks.
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Ahhh ok, thought you saying they were still open becuase the name is still floating somewhere at EA's offices, my bad.

newmoneytrash said:
I bet it's exhausting working at Bioware having to constantly reaffirm you aren't getting shut down. These rumours have been going around for like a decade.


I can't remember if they said anything specifically about Andromeda, just that the Mass Effect franchise will continue
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This is terrible for the morale of people working under the EA banner, but there no one to blame other than EA themselves.
 
0451

0451

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I don't see anything happening to Bioware Edmonton. Bioware Austin, however, is a different story.
 
Stalker

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Oct 25, 2017
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Honestly this is just PR

EA could be readying for mass layoffs or studio closure or they could be perfectly fine with anthem but no one is tweeting about it saying

"Oh EA want us jobless but fingers crossed"
"studio closure incoming buy anthem you plebs"

Just doing the whole "yeah the studio is fine don't worry" act is just a standard response
 

devSin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,194
Closing BioWare doesn't seem likely. That would leave them with just sports and DICE for proven studios.

But it seems clear BioWare isn't going to be able to continue on as before. I also won't be surprised when more of their senior leadership departs over this next year.
 
Lackless

Lackless

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Oct 27, 2017
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EA doesn't close studios anymore. They just repurpose them until they lost all their charm and personality (i.e Criterion).
 
Teeth

Teeth

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Nov 4, 2017
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If I was a money grubbing suit, I don't think I would close Bioware; there's still value left in the name and the properties.

Dragon Age Inquisition sold well. Mass Effect 3 sold well. Even Mass Effect Andromeda appears to have sold alright, likely on the back of initial good will towards the ME franchise, which is undoubtedly damaged now.

But I think what Bioware needs to do now is something extremely safe. It's probably not what people on here want, but I think it's what a lot of Bioware fans want - something they know, done at good quality. If I were a money grubbing suit, I would just order Bioware to make the best standard RPG Dragon Age 4 they could make, followed up by the best Mass Effect 4 they could make; no open worlds, no reinventing the wheel, just take the standard pillars for each franchise and dump a bunch of money into making them look, sound and play the best they can in the Frostbite engine. Safe in design and really pretty. Go for headlines like "Bioware is stepping into the future by looking to its past" or "Bioware is going back to its roots".

There's no such thing as an easy to make game (especially an RPG), but I feel like Bioware should get a couple workmanlike projects under their belt to save their skin.
 
ByWatterson

ByWatterson

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Question: Has EA released any "The game is doing great and we're so excited/humbled by the support" PR yet?

If not.... Eesh.
 
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