Bioware Gives An Update On Existing And Future Projects

Casey Hudson teases exciting news.

[Nodoze]

Studio is DEAD. They are running on borrowed time.

[0hMyGandhi]

I hope not.

[VenomUK]

PR wise it's been tough for Bioware. Anthem is not being talked about positively, worst of all it's now not being talked about much at all. Also, people are speculating about EA shutting down the studio. So I think this is a statement to say to the gaming community 'everything is okay.' We know Dragon Age 4 is being worked on, and we've previously had a wink from Casey Hudson that that a Mass Effect 4 is coming but I think that is at least 3 years away. By E3 2020 they really need to show gamers something to look forward to and a new Dragon Age would do the trick.

[Notellin]

One of the things I’m most excited about is that after almost 15 years in our previous Edmonton location we have moved to a brand-new state-of-the-art facility in the thriving ICE District downtown. We’ve been very fortunate to have EA’s support in building out three large floors of amazing new office space, custom-designed from the ground up for the future of game development. This represents a tremendous investment in the future of our studio, and I can’t wait to see what we create here.

I seriously doubt they will close them after this statement but let's be honest Bioware has been a shell of itself since the doctors that founded it sold to EA.

[DerfDerf]

Would make sense if it wasn't for the fact that no matter how much shit the game got it still sold very well. SO the money was made and that's all that matters.

[xTonyMontana]

I still don't understand EA's logic. They have one studio made up of some of the key influential talent behind many of the modern day FPS features we take for granted. They have another studio who arguably created the greatest single player Star Wars game of all time. Now lets get the studio famous for it's FPS games and have them make a single player Star Wars game and lets get the studio famous for it's single player games, especially Star Wars ones and get them to make an online shooter.

It's just silly. Bioware could be saved easily, do whatever it takes to get Karpyshyn back and announce KOTOR 3 or heck, even a remake of the original. So many gamers and Star Wars fans who never got to experience Revan's story. Or better yet, with Karpyshyn, instead of a Knight game, do a Sith Warrior one, make sure the main character is called Des and go from there.

[irishyort]

Studio doesn't matter it's the staff. Doesn't matter how good your last game was if the staff have moved on to other projects or studios

[Godmars290]

The, executives see no value in staff. Just see the people as interchangeable.

[Anon1974]

People have been saying that for the past decade. They're nowhere near dead.

[VTKC]

Is anyone going to believe what they say after all thats happened with Anthem?

[Summons75]

I haven't believed anything they said since they lied through the entire marketing of Mass Effect 3 and then released a bad game.

[toxic-inferno]

Do you really consider Mass Effect 3 to be a bad game? A bad ending, perhaps, but the gameplay is extremely solid, and the multiplayer mode - despite being a little bit bolted on - was incredibly enjoyable.

[DerfDerf]

Mass Effect 3 was a fantastic game. You should pretty much just stop gaming after that statement. Just pack it all up and pawn it off because you don't deserve it.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Mass Effect 3 is one of their best games.. Outside of the original ending of course.

[P_Bomb]

I loved ME3’s co-op horde mode. Free maps, diverse classes, good mix of power sets and weapons, fun enemies, addictive loot. I played the cr@p out of it on PS3/360. See a lot of influence in Warframe, intentional or not.

[DOMination-]

Ending of course could have been better but overall ME3 is the best in the series for me. Nothing is perfect and the first two are far less perfect imo

[King_Noctis]

Their downfall started since Dragon Age Inquisition to be honest. Great game, but shallow and not up to Bioware’s once great standard. And then we have Mass Effect Andromeda (not bad, but not great either), and the travesty known as Anthem.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Yet it won Game of the Year

[lovemetal626]

Their first signs of downfall came when they released ME2. Solid game but was a preview of what was to come. Less RPG more action.

Already fans were worried how this would turn out. Then Dragon Age 2 came out and proved everyone's worry. Then ME3 and so on. But these games were good games just not RPGs as what old fans remembered

[-Foxtrot]

If they make it past Christmas I’ll be shocked

[RememberThe357]

I'm betting EA has too much cost sunk into DA4. After that releases, if BioWare hasn't blown it out of the water I think that'll be the last of them.

[Zombieburger638]

3 major games all being shit would be the end of them.

[Anon1974]

Ridiculous. Mass Effect Andromeda was a huge financial success. Anthem brought in over $100 million in digital sales alone, not even counting physical copies. Bioware just relocated into brand new offices in downtown Edmonton. They aren't going anywhere.

[zugdar]

Nah. They have one or two more franchises to butcher and milk first.

[Nacho_Z]

Does anyone know how successful Anthem was commercially?

[Magic_Spatula]

Wikipedia and like 2 other sites I went to said it made over $100 million on launch month with $3.5 million of it coming from microtransactions. Other than that, I couldn't really find anything on it besides the usual under performance and sales numbers aren't what EA expected.

[Anon1974]

And that was just digital revenue, not physical copies.

[Servbot41]

Nobody really knows besides EA. We don't know how much they expected to get from MTX that nobody is buying now. Considering the budget the game had over the past decade or however long it took, there is zero chance they made back the investment and were most likely banking on MTX.

[HaVoK308]

Personally, I’ll never purchase another BioWare game. If I do, it will be a used physical copy.

[0hMyGandhi]

If that's what you want to do, by all means, you do you.
Bioware gave us Jade Empire, KOTOR, The Mass Effect trilogy, Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights and MDK. Some of the fondest memories I've had playing a game can be traced back to a Bioware title.
Have their recent efforts been up to their old standards? Nope. Do they have the potential to make an incredibly inventive, well-realized single player adventure that can be replayed over and over again to pick up on all the little details? yup.

But again, if you don't feel like supporting their existence, that's totally fine. The gaming industry benefits far more when companies like Bioware can make original IPs (or turn Star Wars into a sprawling RPG) and recoup their budgets with ease. Giving a company that has done well by the players (for the MOST part) lets other developers know that they shouldn't be afraid of taking more risks with their game designs.

[Servbot41]

The Bioware that made those great older games all left the studio ages ago. Bioware doesn't exist, it's just a name on a sign.

[King_Noctis]

As we have seen recently, that Bioware is no more. Alot of senior staff left the studio and with the current EA at helm, there is not a single way that Bioware could go back to being the old Bioware that made those great games.

[BlaqMagiq1]

You do realize that most of those developers that made those games you mentioned are no longer at Bioware right? Those games were from a different era of gaming. If you expect Bioware to pump out something as good as those games ever again you have your expectations set WAY too high.

[KillBill]

I think you miss the point of the fact they gave us good games in the past and things have changed drastically since then.

[qalpha]

Jade Empire = 14 years ago
KOTOR = 16 years ago
Mass Effect = 12 years ago
Baldur's Gate = 21 years ago
Dragon Age = 10 years ago
Neverwinter Nights = 17 years ago
MDK2 = 19 years ago

[0hMyGandhi]

Bioware made a few "bad games". This is true. But Gearbox made Alien: Colonel Marines next to Borderlands, They made Battleborn and Duke Nukem Forever. Yet people are chomping at the bit for Borderlands 3.

Bethesda actively screwed people over with Fallout 76 by screwing with the "whales" of the industry, and their most devoted supporters. They lied time and time again with it. Yet they also gave us Fallout 3.

N4G was previously quite murky on Hello Games after they released No Man Sky, but their only prior games experience were digital releases of a 2.5d race/platformer called Joe Danger.

I am genuinely trying to figure out what everyone's stance is on the ideas of relevance. "The people who made those games no longer work there" is a common reply that I seem to have gotten.

Well, if that's the case, why are people supporting Halo with 343 making the game and not Bungie? What about The Coalition taking over for Epic in making Gears of War? How about Criterion making a Need for Speed game after taking over for 8 other studios working on the franchise?

It seems like people are implying that it's "totally fine" for a brand new developer/totally different studio to take over the reins on a given property, but not for a studio like Bioware, whose influx of unfamiliar faces is no different than the developers I've mentioned above.

If someone could clarify this point, that would be great. I do appreciate all the comments/replies I've received thus far

[Razmiran]

Why? I agree they have been terrible, but if the game is actually good... why wouldnt you buy it if it falls on your intrests?

[KillBill]

Well you would be forced to wait until much later after a game releases to really hope to see an honest assessment of a game or risk falling into what many of us did with Anthem and its promises.

When a game developers reaches a stage where you question hard each title that is released then support of it becomes simply too much of a risk. Too many games and developers out there for us to feel we should support any game series or developers simply because it has given us good games so long ago.

[Razmiran]

You are actually right, when I wrote that I forgot to consider that from now on everything will be gaas

[Tross]

I’m sorry but I have a difficult time getting excited by anything that comes from EA Studio Husk 462 anymore...

[theshredded]

Hopefully they bounce back with Dragon Age

[Nodoze]

They won't. I envision that will be their last title. Frankly I am VERY surprised EA would sink yet more money into this studio. They have not had a solid title ALL GENERATION. That says it all. Why reward them? They DO NOT DESERVE this swank studio. There are far more deserving developers that actually care about their customers. Bioware is cashing in on past success, turning out significantly sub par work, burning out employees, and to top it all off disparaging their customers (what few remain).

[theshredded]

Dragon Age Inquisition is a great game though. I took my time with it. The other two are plain bad though. Also Dice made 3 blunders yet they're still there.

[loxim]

EA wouldn't move the entire team to a new building with all that new tech if they were going to shut them down, would they??

[Anon1974]

No, they would not. Also, Andromeda was a huge financial success and Anthem brought in over $100 million in digital sales alone, not counting physical copies. Bioware isn't going anywhere. Except into swanky new downtown offices.

[phoenixwing]

not that interested in bioware anymore. I won't be buying their games day one which is way different for me. I'm also glad i never got roped into anthem.

[Knightofelemia]

Paint the facade of a happy studio and happy employees to reassure fans everything is all right. After Anthem did a nose dive and ME Andromeda also did a nose dive. I bet everybody in the studio is sitting on pins and needles trying to guess what EA is going to do with them either shut them down or keep them going.

[Anon1974]

Anthem brought in over $100 million in digital sales alone. Andromeda was also a huge financial success. Where's this "nose dive" you speak of?

[Knightofelemia]

It's not hard to look that stuff up

[XxSPIDEYxX]

Bioware has been stumbling ever since this generation started, and to find out it isn't even Electronic Arts fault is baffling. I don't like to see anyone lose their jobs, so I hope for their sake they get their sh** together.

[Stanjara]

Don't care for Bioware anymore.

[Anon1974]

Well, someone is buying their games.

[qu1ckset]

Was so stoked for ME:A , the game had potential and it just sucked , plot was ruined by a rehash enemy’s and worlds was literally doing the exact same thing planet to planet, plus all the bug at launched , and was even more pissed it was there B-Team that made it and the game was rushed together last minute.

Then anthem , the game nobody asked for , low and behold another huge flop.

DA:I was enjoyable but nothing ground breaking , and I don’t see a new one saving the studio lol

Coming from a long time fan for BioWare , they are dead.

[MWH]

I think DA4 is their last chance, if EA mess this up then it's game over, ByeOWRE.

[m2stech]

Just like end of Mass effect 3, Bioware is left with 3 endings here too:
option 1: Forfeit all, close and merge the company with other studios and let the fans remember you by early better days.
option 2: Continue the path you are on, the company will live on with EA's money but will lose most of its customer and fans.
option 3: Locked. preorder the Bioware season pass to view this option.

[AK91]

Who cares

[eamonn79]

EA buy games companies, restrict what it is they can do creatively, give them an unrecoverable rep with us gamers and then close the studio bringing the left over devs into work on madden 2050 all so they can corner the market (in their heads), f**k EA f**king hate them

[Bhuahahaha]

biowho?

[irishyort]

Article is rubbish.
What do they have going on. Work on broken busted old games that nobody cares about. "But we have a few things we can't talk about" .... No! You really need to talk about them as your other stuff is dead!

[gamer7804]

they should just give away anthem on psplus and games for gold already

[Anon1974]

Given that it was raking in the cash digitally, not likely going to happen.

[TheHan]

Omg you people need to stop saying the same shit. “BioWare is Dead” BioWare this and that. Gets fucking old.

[Anon1974]

Right? They're dead and yet they're selling millions of games and bringing in hundreds of millions in revenue. They're like schrodinger's developer, apparently.

[BlaqMagiq1]

The only future project I want from Bioware is a Mass Effect Trilogy remaster. Keep whatever else you have coming.

[Imortus_san]

With a bit of Luck EA unplugs the life support and lets then in the wild, for another Company to pick them up.

[Anon1974]

Not likely given how much money Bioware brings in for them. Andromedia was a huge financial success and while Anthem missed sales expectations of 6 million copies, digitally alone it raked in over $100 million. Bioware isn't going anywhere. EA's not going to shoot the goose while it's still laying golden eggs.

[Artemidorus]

No EA we are not prepared to buy second rate games at over the top prices.

[Jrios355]

You know there's a massive problem when Bioware has two teams working on Anthem, and they've delivered jack shit.

[zugdar]

At this point I think they just need to go into hiding and bring something to the table when ready. They don't have much credibility to the public and anything they say is accepted with an eye roll.

When Sean Murray went underground for No Man Sky it allowed them to avoid stirring the pot and did not give anyone the means to be upset or let down by broken expectations.

[skyrimer]

I hope EA kills it already, old Bioware devs regroup, make a kickstarter to purchase Jade Empire or KOTOR rights and create a new game, probably make millions in Kickstarter and have ridiculous success so the real Bioware gets to shine again.

[babadivad]

No one cares what EAware is cooking up.