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Anthem Producer Tries To Address Concern About Future Of BioWare; “We Are Getting Great Support"
- Thread starter Deleted member 249
- Start date
It'll be fine today, but one day 200 people are going to walk into an office and get told they've just had their jobs cut due to budget cuts or reforming the company. This is EA we're talking about here. I don't trust them at all.
Yeah this is what I've been thinking for a few years. Shutting down Bioware would be way too big of a pr disaster. So they're safe for a few years at least.
Now what will happen to the studio behind the scenes I have no idea. Hopefully they'll avoid the sad fate of being thrown at Battlefield.
I wouldn't expect EA to make any moves till the announced live updates are finished anyway. No doubt they have been working on it since before launch, once that's complete is when I think EA make it's decision. Hopefully it all works out though and they improve things.
These guys are in a "damned if you say anything, damned if you don't" position. Nobody seems to believe them when they say they're doing fine and not going anywhere. But if they didn't say anything at all, people would assume they're fucked. It's pretty fucking dumb.
I doubt BioWare is going anywhere, and I'm sure Anthem will keep getting better with time.
If anything, the success of Apex will make it much easier for Titanfall 3 to happen.
I doubt BioWare is going anywhere, and I'm sure Anthem will keep getting better with time.
If anything, the success of Apex will make it much easier for Titanfall 3 to happen.
I don't think Bioware is going anywhere and I don't think Anthem is doomed. They're gonna invest time and effort into it. The bones are good - they just need to do some tinkering and I think in a year we'll be seeing "I can't believe this is the same game!" styled articles.
I know it's not a live-service game, but I wish I could've said this about Mass Effect Andromeda... It improved, but a year later and it still clearly was unfinished, EA cut their losses and all DLC was scrapped, and the game was abandoned with the studio dissolved into EA's other studios.
Andromeda had good bones too, but it never became fully fleshed out like we all wanted and hoped it would.
I too wish Andromeda had been fleshed out (there's dozens of us, etc) but I think this being a shlooter and a GaaS thing will affect it more since there's more monetization opportunity that DLC would have brought for Andromeda.
Alas, if they hadn't shredded their credibility lately, then people would have believed statements from the studio. It is hard to say whether this is another "Frostbite was totally our choice" type of statement.
Battlefield: Harder Line
EA: This time we promise the developers won't be liquidated. *fingers crossed behind back*
I don't believe them. EA is always a supportive and helpful partner until they aren't. And that moment of change often comes swiftly and brutally.
I agree it's an all right game, but frankly, at this point I'd rather they regroup on Dragon Age 4 or another single player RPG than throw more years of effort into Anthem.
I could actually see EA not pull their usual stunt this time just because they know Anthem is possibly a straw to break the camel's back for them. I know Star Wars in Hennig's studio was, but BioWare has had a super long run within EA and they already faced a pretty big backlash over Star Wars last year. You know, like when Ubisoft actually stopped annualizing Assassin's Creed due to consumer awareness of its effect on franchise quality. EA is cynical but not so much that they don't try to avoid controversy if it's going to matter to them.
Dragon Age 4 is currently being worked on. I really like Anthem and hope it receives continued support and improves.
I am replaying Andromeda right now when I need a break from KH3, Apex, and Anthem and I actually am having fun. It was served undercooked but I enjoy it too.
This. If things were terrible and EA was decided on closing the studio, this is still going to be the public line. They don't want employees leaving too early.
I hope BioWare sticks around for the simple fact that there's a lot of folks working there, and it would suck to see talented developers out of work.
As a longtime fan of BioWare's games over the years though, the studio sure feels like a hollow shell of its former self to me.
I'm hoping Dragon Age 4 turns things around, but it honestly wouldn't surprise me if they ruined it by making in a MMO/GaaS as well.
As a longtime fan of BioWare's games over the years though, the studio sure feels like a hollow shell of its former self to me.
I'm hoping Dragon Age 4 turns things around, but it honestly wouldn't surprise me if they ruined it by making in a MMO/GaaS as well.
Everyone keeps saying "of course it's different; it's not the same Bioware; staff has changed; it's Bioware in name only"...
... but something I've noticed is the "new" Bioware has never really HAD the opportunity to do games like the "old" Bioware. Every Bioware games since ME3 has had online multiplayer of some sort, microtransactions, different engines and new pipelines, and a massive shift in focus away from how those old games were made, scripted, and supported.
It's a hypothetical, but if you were to ask "current Bioware" to make a game equivalent to KOTOR, Dragon Age: Origins, Jade Empire, or Mass Effect, I think it would be a lot more feasible and better-received than barreling forward with all the baggage and corporate mandates they've dealt with the last several years.
14 critics?"Don't worry about us"
I'll worry alright.
On many levels.
They aren't going to close the studio. EA needs multiple studios open and available to create content they aren't going to shutter one of their oldest and most successful studios after one failure. One failure that is still able to be saved and turned into something.
Playstation was the only platform where you couldn't play the game AT ALL a week early, and PC was the only platform where you could play the game in full. So most of the game's reviews are of the PC version.
This so much.
Bioware Edmonton is not at real risk of being shut down. What's amazing is how many people - former fans and otherwise - seem to want Bioware to get shut down. Like, they fucked up - big time. And they are paying for it. But asking for them to get shut down is really, really shitty.
Not "closed" but Andromeda's team was "reallocated" to various other studios. I think EA would take that approach; keep the manpower, but put them on select "money-making" IPs guaranteed to sell.
Not saying Anthem isn't or won't become one of those IPs, but if it underperforms that's how EA would feasibly proceed. They have a history of taking more severe action with less cause before...
You make a good point. I sure as hell would love to see them return to that type of game design, as each of those you listed are among my favorite games.
Name names.
If this is as widespread as you claim, it should be easy.
And at the same time these former fans and "otherwise" freak out and rage an indignant storm when there are industry layoffs like the recent Blizzard stuff. Gaming culture is really goofy and gamers' memories are oh so short.
I don't want BioWare to be shut down, obviously. But if they cease support of Anthem, in favor of directing resources elsewhere, I wouldn't be surprised at this point.
Athem just doesn't seem like it was a good fit for BioWare's strengths as a studio, which you see reflected in many different reviews and takeaways from the game. The entire air around it just feels so odd.
Athem just doesn't seem like it was a good fit for BioWare's strengths as a studio, which you see reflected in many different reviews and takeaways from the game. The entire air around it just feels so odd.
Lol. Please. You are then willfully ignoring the toxic glee certain users, here and elsewhere, are taking with Anthem's troubles and the joy of announcing low figures, bad news, and prophesizing doom regarding Bioware as a company. The schadenfreude is real.
I'm not spare time shaming, but surely jerking off for the 5th time that day would have been more productive than a shitty schadenfraude meme?
Name them, or better yet call them out and have them explain themselves.
The Andromeda studio was a support studio created to pump out ME3 DLC then shifted over to Andromeda as principle development. It was no surprise with all the developmental issues and the tepid response (but it still being a financial success) that they decide to just shift gears with them.
Bioware is going to be fine. Austin is principle content for the GAAS cycle on Anthem and I don't think they want to throw in the towel on that yet.
I hope they stay around long enough to make mass effect 4 with Shepard back! 😩 Still one of my favourite studios along with rockstar and CD projekt.
Yup. If EA closes BioWare, their staff will be the last to know. Hell they'll probably find out they're losing their jobs from a Kotaku article.