Submitted 2 weeks ago by AustralianSimon@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world
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I keep hearing that EA isn’t responsible for this, because BioWare games have gone to shit recently. Does anyone honestly believe that EA’s takeover, corporate culture, and demands on the studio didn’t contribute to the drop in quality?
EA and other corpos’ death grip doesn’t start at the end when it all falls apart. The death grip is there from the moment you sell.
BioWare itself was a corporation, and that’s the problem. It ruined itself just as much as EA ruined it.
An outcome like this is inevitable when your goal is infinitely compounding returns on investments.
We should just go after all the money of the people who sell the studios. Everyone always forgets that for every game studio Equity Almighty destroys there’s a former owner sitting on a fat pile of cash that a whole group of people worked together to build, 120% tax on all their assets.
We used to hate the sellouts for being sellouts. Now they just aren’t talked about, like selling out is inevitable and in many ways the whole point.
Yeah, because EA gave Bioware a chance to bounce back, in fact multiple chances. You could say EA killed the Bioware of old which the talent leaving the studio, but the new Bioware could’ve bounced back. They had everything they needed to succeed. A credible studio name that people trusted and a bunch of beloved IPs that people would give a chance. They even had EA giving them more than one shot to not fail (which is more than most EA studios get) and also plenty of time to get it right. All Bioware had to do was put out a good game and they simply couldn’t.
So let me ask in reverse. Let’s say Bioware was indepedent. What would Bioware have to fuck up for you to say its their fault for going under? Because to me they ticked all those boxes already. Had it been any other studio they’d already be dead and forgotten.
Persued ‘live-service’ games, using game engines that don’t fit, constantly shifting direction of games, focusing on a generic streamlined cinematic experience then telling a good story with impactful choices, …
EA kept pushing them to MMOs despite them being a single player RPG company. I definitely think they dropped the ball too, but had they been put on DA4 right after inquisition and kept it going to completion I don’t think they’d’ve flopped like that
EA forced them to make a live service game that failed. Then they tried to make them make a live service Dragon Age game. They decided to change Veilguard back to single-player, but late enough in the development cycle that it impacted the final product.
Andromeda was a technical mess at launch, but the game itself was fine. It was the weakest in the series, but they tried new stuff with the spinoff and I appreciated the attempt.
The only game they made before that I truly disliked was Dragon Age II.
Sir. Sir, the beatings will continue until morale improves. We have been over this.
That means all BioWare games should become free now, because a closed studio can’t get the money? /s
Of course EA will have no problem getting money on their behalf, all while slashing the developers. If you waited for a call to legitimately pirate BioWare games, this is it.
Check out OpenRA: Combined Arms lol
Niiiice
EA employees worked on BioWare games. I know because my brother is one of them.
He worked on Dragon Age, while being an EA employee.
So EA owns all the rights to collect money from their games for that reason and became EA owned BioWare
When they got sold to ea, this was the only possible outcome anyway. Not sure if they sold out or ea did some corporate bullshit to force them to it, but they should have stayed away from ea if they wanted to keep making games.
The founders and original lead developers - Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk - created over a dozen games before they sold the company.
Idk what else you’d want. They did their thing and then they cashed out to live their lives doing other things.
Bioware wasn’t even supposed to be a video game company. It was originally founded to pioneer medical technology and only pivoted when their side project - Shattered Steel - outperformed expectations.
Sometime people need to stop being mad because one participate Treats Train has finally ended it’s run. Be glad for the games you got, not sad because it’s over
After all, you’ve still got Larian and Paradox and Owlcat and a thousand other indie studios making equivalent games.
The problem is that EA will still squat on the IP for the indefinite future, so nobody gets to do anything with it later.
Paradox just added a expansion for your comment. To unlock please pay $12.99…
They sold out to a private equity firm, who in turn sold them to EA.
Bioware also had a large number of employees in Montreal and Edmonton. Maga goons (Jared Kushner and Lourenco Goncalves) are just laying off Canadians to hurt the economy.
I gotta be honest, this is not unexpected at all.
BioWare released 4 games since 2017, one of which was just a remaster/collection of the older Mass Effect titles. The other three games were Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, and Dragon Age Veilguard, all of which aren’t exactly considered the studio’s best work. These games did not sell well, obviously (and in some cases there are EA earning reports that confirm this), leading to studio closure. Honestly I am surprised this didn’t happen sooner.
The talent that actually made BioWares reputation probably havent been at that studio for a while.
Exactly. A few key figures left not long after the EA buyout. The rest trickled out over time. The Wikipedia article for Dragon Age Veilguard has an entire section dedicated to the revolving door of key staff leaving or being laid off over the course of its development.
It’s far from everyone, but a few names from the old Bioware are currently working on this game set to release next year, which is billing itself as a sort of spiritual successor to Mass Effect:
This is why I still consider it fair to blame EA for downstream effects like this. There’s no guarantee as independent studios that they would function better, but they at least would have original staff from star games. Like PopCap, and Reddit refuses to acknowledge EA had any part of the garbage PopCap releases now.
I’m a big fan of Bullfrog (own every game) and saw the writing on the wall when Bioware got bought.
all of which aren’t exactly considered the studio’s best work
That’s very mildly put
Andromeda, while a decent game today, was an absolute shitshow on release that was incredibly buggy. Not even thinking about the face animations that still haunt me to this day.
Anthem, while mechanically being genuinely great, severely lacked content and had seemingly no plan for the future.
And Veilguard was absolutely bankrupt from a gameplay standpoint. It was the most boring and most shallow game in the franchise, even more than inquisition and that was already fairly shallow. Not even mentioning the horrendous story and writing.
Electraudi Artsrabia
Probably doesn’t help, and fuck their current owners, but EA has been notorious for buying and killing studios for more than 30 years.
The plot of Ultima 7 was full of references to it. The big bad was a reference to EA corrupting people to join his side, he tried to destroy magic in the world, his power was split in three artefacts shaped like EA’s logo, and his two main agents in the world had E and A initials.
Funnily enough the game was basically finished when EA bought Origin Systems who made Ultima, so they just published it as-is.
They hadn’t released a game that made back its development cost in over a decade, they were a billion dollar money hole.
In these lists of great things to remember Bioware for, people keep not including MDK2. It told an amazing story of a mad scientist, his janitor and robot dog, repelling an alien invasion and saving Earth. Deserves to be mentioned alongside their othet awesome games.
You think it’s popular enough that anyone knows what MDK2 even means? People after lazy and won’t search that to find out. Maybe you should stop being lazy too and just woke out the actually name instead of this game you seem to think it’s unforgettable will remain entirely entirely forgotten
‘‘woke out the actually name instead’’
You’re an idiot. Learn english if you’re going to preach to people in this language. FYI the name of the game actually is ‘‘MDK2’’.
Lol it’s the actual name of the game.
Apparently I wasn’t lazy enough to do some leg work to figure it out (I actually knew about this game and was able to identify it by the name but that’s beyond the point.)
You’re the reason why Netflix has to take into account people doom scrolling on their phones while they watch their media.
It probably took less time for me to search, upload and write this message than it took you to type up that rancid pile of shit.
So for everyone concerned: shut the fuck up.
How about you tell us the ‘actual name’, sucka? Because anyone who was a gamer in 1997-2000 knows of the mystery behind that name.
Such a tragedy. Black Isle and Bioware were such a great combo in the late 90’s.
Just to push back on this, this is long overdue.
EA closing down studios they buy is the expected inevitable outcome
Anyone who lets EA acquire them deserves this. It’s not even a secret, so fuck everyone who are BioWare who sold their company to this. You can be sad, but you don’t get to be surprised
Batteries Included – Purchased in 1987 and closed that same year. Origin Systems – Purchased in 1992. Closed in 2004. Bullfrog Productions – Purchased in 1995. Closed in 2001. Maxis – Purchased in 1997. Closed in 2015. (Studio name still used by EA.) Westwood Studios / EA Pacific – Purchased in 1998. Closed in 2003. Kesmai – Purchased in 1999. Closed in 2001. DreamWorks Interactive / Danger Close Games – Purchased in 2000. Closed in 2013. Black Box Games – Purchased in 2002. Closed in 2013. NuFX / EA Chicago – Purchased in 2004. Closed in 2007. Hypnotix – Purchased and shut down in 2005. Team folded into EA Tiburon. Mythic Entertainment – Purchased in 2006. Closed in 2014. Phenomic Game Development – Purchased in 2006. Closed in 2013. Headgate Studios / EA Salt Lake – Purchased in 2006. Closed in 2017. Pandemic Studios – Purchased in 2007. Closed in 2009. J2MSoft – Purchased in 2008 and folded into EA Korea. Playfish – Purchased in 2009. Closed in 2013. Chillingo – Purchased in 2010. Began shutting down in 2017. Fully closed in 2023. Industrial Toys – Purchased in 2018. Closed in 2023. BioWare – Purchased in 2007. Closed in 2026.
Developers don’t decide who acquires them.
That’s why it is sad. You have a really good team and the money hungry management sells them out. That is sad.
This makes me sick to my stomach. I know the last dragon age and mass effect weren’t good. But I was still hopeful despite knowing better. There at least was a chance the next ME would be good. I didn’t get far in veilguard, and I’ll probably never finish it, but I still want to fuck around in Thedas. Like others have said this isn’t a surprise, but it hurts me to see this happen to what was once my favorite studio.
I should go.
There at least was a chance the next ME would be good
You have better chance to win a lottery
The Morons in Japan are trying to blame online piracy. Makes me wanna swallow some nails…
They made my 2 favorite game series of all time. While we all known they fell a long time ago, this still makes me sad.
EA has form for turning buyouts into shit. Look at PopCap who produced joyous casual-but-fair games until EA sunk their claws into them.
It’s always the fucking suits.
Note too the shit stains that now own EA.
And do not pretend that they didn’t told you that it’s wokeness that killed the modern game industry! ~/s~
American. Modern American game-industry. Which sadly is the majority.
No no, you’re wrong, it was the girls. Girls ruined gaming forever. Stupid girls and their needing to be seen and not be patronized to.
I really wish we could get another great Mass Effect game, but I knew not to get my hopes up. I played Andromeda, after all.
Despite combat being better and more polished in Andromeda than it was in the trilogy Mass Effect, Andromeda felt like a fan-fiction adaptation of Mass Effect. It did not feel like it was made by the same people. I feel like tying that game into Mass Effect was a mistake.
bioware was dead somewhere in between getting taken over by ea, long before this.
EA is a pox on humanity now.
EA = Enshittify All.
I had to write a buad report on them long time back. EA is basically the Martin Shkreli of the gaming industry.
As is capitalism, especially the unregulated sort, where executives worst ideas run the show
It’s just a shame they never made a 4th dragon age
Maybe the ex BioWare Devs can found a new studio. Maybe OrganicWare.
I fully believe there’s a huge amount of money and effort in making a studio – but it seems like killing off a known brand wholesale like this just should result in a new brand that is the successor.
‘Friendship ended with Bioware, Now OrganicWare is my best friend’ kind of energy. We were never there for EA’s involvement. We wanted These People*.
*First link I found, you get the point, but it might not be accurate for the whole team.
Gaming is getting harder with economy and silicon prices – but that means we can just take the stories we want to tell and do so without 4A graphics.
I’m waiting for the first of these beautiful games to be built in Godot. Things will change then.
Sounds like the GTA world offbrand
This is really sad.
did people not remember westwood, and trashing command and conquer after RA3, that was unforgivable.
Lest we forget. I still have my C&C Decades collection to replay.
Batteries Included – Purchased in 1987 and closed that same year.
Origin Systems – Purchased in 1992. Closed in 2004.
Bullfrog Productions – Purchased in 1995. Closed in 2001.
Maxis – Purchased in 1997. Closed in 2015. (Studio name still used by EA.)
Westwood Studios / EA Pacific – Purchased in 1998. Closed in 2003.
Kesmai – Purchased in 1999. Closed in 2001.
DreamWorks Interactive / Danger Close Games – Purchased in 2000. Closed in 2013.
Black Box Games – Purchased in 2002. Closed in 2013.
NuFX / EA Chicago – Purchased in 2004. Closed in 2007.
Hypnotix – Purchased and shut down in 2005. Team folded into EA Tiburon.
Mythic Entertainment – Purchased in 2006. Closed in 2014.
Phenomic Game Development – Purchased in 2006. Closed in 2013.
Headgate Studios / EA Salt Lake – Purchased in 2006. Closed in 2017.
Pandemic Studios – Purchased in 2007. Closed in 2009.
J2MSoft – Purchased in 2008 and folded into EA Korea.
Playfish – Purchased in 2009. Closed in 2013.
Chillingo – Purchased in 2010. Began shutting down in 2017. Fully closed in 2023.
Industrial Toys – Purchased in 2018. Closed in 2023.
BioWare – Purchased in 2007. Closed in 2026.
dont people forgiven them for destroying the CNC franchise, and they tried to money grab with CNC4, and tiberium alliance.
If they wanted me to care about more than one paragraph, they could have left-aligned like responsible adults. Center alignment is godawful to read.
Internal trailer for ME 5
Sims 2 for life!
Nothing easy about writing those words? Nobody can even read a mass effect game.
Squeaky wheel gets the kick!
This will happen to Rockstar before GTA6 comes out. They can’t admit they don’t have a game.
Brum@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Eh. Bioware died a long time ago.
TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Alternate headline:
“The reanimated corpse of your loved one is now at peace.”
sanpo@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Right. Sucks for the people working there, but the BioWare we miss was already gone, so it doesn’t hurt that much.
thoro@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Yeah when EA purchased them.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
ThatsTheJoke.jpg
Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I’d argue slightly before. EA purchased them about the same time Mass Effect came out, which means they didn’t play a part in development. I would say Mass Effect was the beginning of the end for them. Yeah, it was great, but it was the game where they started dumbing things down and moving away from the CRPG into bland action games. Mass Effect was the start of the path towards Anthem and then trying to make Dragon Age into a multiplayer live-service thing, which ended up as Veilguard.
ItWasTheDNS@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah, but now we miss out on playing a rushed mass effect game and getting to complain about it not measuring up for a couple weeks. Now I have to find something new to do in August 2027
flameleaf@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It has been a long time since I bought an EA game, yeah. Bioware was their only developer that I cared for.
Iambus@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
True, they have been on a trash slop run and this is the inevitable result.