Is Bioware done?

tybert7

2[H]4U
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It seems everything they have touched recently has not ended well. Andromeda was seen as lackluster, and I heard 90% of the playerbase of anthem is gone.

We may never see a dragon age game set in Tevinter.
 
Its been long theorized that BioWare would probably be closed by its EA overlords if Anthem failed. Andromeda, while not a critical success, did actually make money. EA just didn't see it as being worth additional investment in the form of DLC's after the negative publicity about the state it launched in. Anthem is a game as a service. I think they'll be given time to straighten it out. On the plus side, BioWare has handled SWTOR fairly well over the years and a new expansion is coming on that.
 
developers are never done...they just become less relevant until their next big game
 
Bioware was dead when they shat out Andromeda.

I finally got round (forced myself) to playing it all the way through only late last year, and I was like, well, that was as dull, boring and pointless as I was expecting it to be.

I heard Anthem is even more banal. Bioware is done.
 
BioWare was dead when they bowed down to the all-mighty console with Dragon Age 2, a position EA forced them into after acquiring them.
 
BioWare was dead when they bowed down to the all-mighty console with Dragon Age 2, a position EA forced them into after acquiring them.

Hardly. BioWare made a crap ton of money with Mass Effect 3. It's shitty ending was a product of being rushed and mismanaged to some extent, but the game was otherwise solid and its DLC's did well. Andromeda even sold well according to the earnings call that year. It saw some backlash which unfortunaately ended with its DLC being cancelled, but it still made money. When your part of EA, that's literally all you have to do for success. Make money.
 
I don't think Bioware is done, per say, but they need to make serious changes to how they handle development, how they handle communication between divisions, how leadership communicates with employees, and so on. Bioware is a company that needs to take a long, serious, and honest look at itself and exactly why both Andromeda and Anthem failed the way they did and why they've had so many people leave the company over the last few years.
 
Hardly. BioWare made a crap ton of money with Mass Effect 3. It's shitty ending was a product of being rushed and mismanaged to some extent, but the game was otherwise solid and its DLC's did well. Andromeda even sold well according to the earnings call that year. It saw some backlash which unfortunaately ended with its DLC being cancelled, but it still made money. When your part of EA, that's literally all you have to do for success. Make money.

Plus Mass Effect 3 was a great game, until the last 15 minutes. That doesn't ruin the entire game, or it's franchise. Andromeda was a rushed, called in shell of what it could have been. I don't think Bioware is done, but they will have to make something pretty impressive to rally the fan base.
 
Plus Mass Effect 3 was a great game, until the last 15 minutes. That doesn't ruin the entire game, or it's franchise. Andromeda was a rushed, called in shell of what it could have been. I don't think Bioware is done, but they will have to make something pretty impressive to rally the fan base.

I think that's impossible, not that they will not make make great games or anything in the future again, but it's like HL3 which Valve says even if they make it it will fall short of fans expactations. You come to a point where you just can't go "better" anymore or at least in a reasonable (both time and money wise) way.

I thought andromeda was pretty decent other then that jungle planet that felt realy out of place and a huge pain to navigate. I haven't played much of Anthem but the gameplay is pretty fun, shame that the town is such a drag, it should have been part of the world and faster to get around in.
 
Plus Mass Effect 3 was a great game, until the last 15 minutes. That doesn't ruin the entire game, or it's franchise. Andromeda was a rushed, called in shell of what it could have been. I don't think Bioware is done, but they will have to make something pretty impressive to rally the fan base.

I disagree with the rest of ME3 being good. It played well and had some of the best moments in the series, but the entire plot was a mess. Everything regarding TIM and Cereberus was a shitty resolution to everything that was set up in 2. Udena's betrayal was ridiculously out of character. The story resolutions for some characters was just downright insulting. The game expected you to have read the novels in order to know who the fuck Kai Leng was and he ended up being about as interesting as watching paint dry. Outside of some character moments, the writing was pretty awful from beginning to end.
 
The old Bioware is gone and has been for years. Mass Effect 3 was the last legit Bioware game IMO but was already going downhill due to decisions likely forced on them by EA such as multiplayer with microtransactions shoehorned into it.

I think the new Bioware has lost too much of the original talent to get back to what it was even if EA pulls their head out of their ass and stops micromanaging them into the ground but I also don't think they're going to get the old yeller treatment quite yet. Though if they have a couple major duds in a row or a few more minor duds they'll likely be taken out back to join Bullfrog, Maxis, et al.
 
The old Bioware is gone and has been for years. Mass Effect 3 was the last legit Bioware game IMO but was already going downhill due to decisions likely forced on them by EA such as multiplayer with microtransactions shoehorned into it.

I think the new Bioware has lost too much of the original talent to get back to what it was even if EA pulls their head out of their ass and stops micromanaging them into the ground but I also don't think they're going to get the old yeller treatment quite yet. Though if they have a couple major duds in a row or a few more minor duds they'll likely be taken out back to join Bullfrog, Maxis, et al.

The thing is, EA isn't micromanaging them. EA is basically leaving them alone and not forcing them to address serious leadership and team communication issues that have been plaguing them for years. If anything, EA poking their heads in more often might actually improve how the company operates. As sad as it is to say, EA people might do a better job running Bioware than the Bioware people currently in charge.
 
The thing is, EA isn't micromanaging them. EA is basically leaving them alone and not forcing them to address serious leadership and team communication issues that have been plaguing them for years. If anything, EA poking their heads in more often might actually improve how the company operates. As sad as it is to say, EA people might do a better job running Bioware than the Bioware people currently in charge.

I'm talking about things like the MT laden MP in ME3, the decision to make ME:A and DA:I open world which resulted in bland games completely different than traditional Bioware games, and the decision to try and break into games as a service model with Anthem. Based on interviews with devs and EAs track record my impression has been that these and other little things have come down from above as mandates.

I think they've been giving Bioware the resources they needed for the last few games but I don't feel like they gave them enough freedom, then again they might just not have people with the vision to do what they used to.

Edit: Oh and I do agree that Bioware has internal management issues that they need to address as well.
 
If I was some higher level manager at EA, I'd definitely shutter Bioware and shuffle the good code monkeys to other projects while firing the rest of the staff. Today's Bioware is not the original anyway.
 
My impression is that the Bioware of today is not quite the same as the original Bioware.

There were some staff changes, certain key people left to other studios, and so it's not the same.

But again- and at the risk of being controversial - that's just my impression.
 
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Yes, they're done.

The Mass Effect 3 ending debacle was the very large and open demonstration that signaled the beginning of the end and even that timetable might be generous.

The mass personnel exodus since then speaks for itself. It's been EA-Ware for a number of years and certainly by now there should be no illusions left for anyone.
 
I disagree with the rest of ME3 being good. It played well and had some of the best moments in the series, but the entire plot was a mess. Everything regarding TIM and Cereberus was a shitty resolution to everything that was set up in 2. Udena's betrayal was ridiculously out of character. The story resolutions for some characters was just downright insulting. The game expected you to have read the novels in order to know who the fuck Kai Leng was and he ended up being about as interesting as watching paint dry. Outside of some character moments, the writing was pretty awful from beginning to end.

Agreed. ME3 could have been so much more then it was, and it was quite clear it had developmental problems behind the scenes.
 
I don't think so. Anthem is complete trash, but I didn't hate Andromeda. I legitimately enjoyed Inquisition. ME3 was fine by me except the forced MP/app nonsense. I'd happily play any of those vs. Dragon Age 2, which some people gave a pass.

I feel like a rebound is still possible. We've seen developers and publishers turn things around (and vice versa). Whatever their next game is will probably dictate their fate. I don't think they can survive another dud, but they could right the ship with something above average.
 
I don't think so. Anthem is complete trash, but I didn't hate Andromeda. I legitimately enjoyed Inquisition. ME3 was fine by me except the forced MP/app nonsense. I'd happily play any of those vs. Dragon Age 2, which some people gave a pass.

I feel like a rebound is still possible. We've seen developers and publishers turn things around (and vice versa). Whatever their next game is will probably dictate their fate. I don't think they can survive another dud, but they could right the ship with something above average.
Not with all the internal conflicts going on. They will probably survive til DA 4 comes out. If it is another did then I can see EA putting them down.
 
I haven't enjoyed a Bioware game in a very long time. If Anthem isn't their last game, it will be one of their last. They are done for sure.
 
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