R.I.P BioWare?

[Stargazer2600]

So apparently the hate for Mass Effect Andromeda was so great, that it's caused the death of BioWare. This is from at least what I've been understanding. A while ago they came out and said that they were killing the Andromeda series because of the low sales, so it's kind of sad I'll never get a Trilogy out of that. But for a entire Studio to be sucked up by another just because of a series that people complained about just because of facial animations is kinda sad. Maybe I'm understanding this wrong? What's your guys's thoughts? A friend of mine secretly thinks this Anthem game will become another Mass Effect game but I don't know, games have killed studios in the past.

 

Link

[KittiBear]

I personally think it's too soon to be worried about the death of BioWare. The death of Mass Effect, maybe, but not BioWare just yet. As a company they have more than just Mass Effect to keep them going, though I'm sure the results of Andromeda were indeed a crippling blow. We'll have to wait an see how their future games go. I think they'd need one or two more failures before we start preparing a eulogy.

[Sypher-KoS]

EA has slowly been killing Bioware for years.  They've done this to other studios in the past like Westwood.  Westwood used to make the Command and Conquer series and Red Alert and was one of my favorite RTS developers back in the day.  Slowly and surely EA forced Westwood to release more and more inferior products until only the name remained and they were ultimately dissolved and the different people sent to work elsewhere within EA or just leaving.

 

Bioware is a shell of their former selves and has been for quite some time.  Anthem may be the final nail since it appears they are abandoning RPG's to make a Destiny like MMO.  They might have one last final gasp with Dragon Age 4 but after those two projects I wouldn't be surprised if they were dismantled like the other companies EA has buried and they start releasing garbage under the Bioware name until its no longer profitable.

 

I don't feel Andromeda alone is to blame for the downfall of Bioware but their days are numbered.

[sephiroth4424]

I read that they will merge with EA Motive.Don't they both belong to EA anyway?.And yeah, there won't be a sequel for Andromeda anytime soon.I'll get it for the right price regardless the reviews but if the game sucked,they should leave it and focus on new games,it's not a bad decision 

[Undead Wolf]

17 minutes ago, Stargazer2600 said:

A while ago they came out and said that they were killing the Andromeda series because of the low sales, so it's kind of sad I'll never get a Trilogy out of that. But for a entire Studio to be sucked up by another just because of a series that people complained about just because of facial animations is kinda sad.

 

Oh no, there was far more wrong with Andromeda than just the God awful facial animations. The piss poor writing that sounds like it came from the mind of a 13 year old is one of them. Also, they never said they were "killing off" the series, just that it was being put on ice. I can only hope that if they do decide to return to Mass Effect, they hire some competent writers this time around. Some decent programmers and what not would be nice too, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

 

BioWare aren't going away anytime soon, but it won't be the BioWare we know and love anymore. Hell, the BioWare that made Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and KOTOR are already long dead to me.

[GlennRhee]

I think the problems with Andromeda run deeper than bad facial animations. Bear in mind that I'm getting this information from a friend, so if this is inaccurate, I apologize, but as I understand it, they did something with the races so that the "minor" races were axed completely. That's a damn shame, because the Elcor and Volus were easily two of the more interesting races, but we just get forcefed another Asari again. They develop this interesting world, and then choose to only focus on the same parts that were featured in the original trilogy.

 

I also feel like a lot of what they've done in recent games has been little more than virtue signalling, but that's a rant for another day.

[ShadowReplicant]

I don't think this will cause the death of BioWare, but I wouldn't be surprised if it meant the death of Mass Effect.

 

And you know what, I don't think I'd care because Andromeda was so earth-shatteringly awful, that I'd rather have nothing than another entry in that "saga".

[Dragon-Archon]

12 minutes ago, Sypher-KoS said:

EA has slowly been killing Bioware for years.  They've done this to other studios in the past like Westwood.  Westwood used to make the Command and Conquer series and Red Alert and was one of my favorite RTS developers back in the day.  Slowly and surely EA forced Westwood to release more and more inferior products until only the name remained and they were ultimately dissolved and the different people sent to work elsewhere within EA or just leaving.

 

Bioware is a shell of their former selves and has been for quite some time.  Anthem may be the final nail since it appears they are abandoning RPG's to make a Destiny like MMO.  They might have one last final gasp with Dragon Age 4 but after those two projects I wouldn't be surprised if they were dismantled like the other companies EA has buried and they start releasing garbage under the Bioware name until its no longer profitable.

 

I don't feel Andromeda alone is to blame for the downfall of Bioware but their days are numbered.

Exactly this, I loved Command and Conquer and Tiberian Sun is still one of my favourite PC games of all times. I really hope Bioware won't end up like Westwood, but each game Bioware developed recently has been getting lots of hate. Lots of people who were with the company for years already left (including the founders).

[NaseemJohn]

No it's not the death of BioWare nor Mass effect let's not jump the gun here. They've been very successful with every game they've done in the past except Mass effect Andromeda and the fact that people are giving them this much crap for one game is really beyond me. Yes Andromeda was buggy, had bad facial animation and a poor script but it wasnt the abomination of a game everyone is making it sound like. Despite the flaws it was still a good & fun game but it just didnt live up to the standards of the trilogy. People have been saying for years that the death of call of duty was coming and even gave the last one a huge amount of dislikes and hate, it still came out as the top selling game of the year. That goes to show that as a studio you can mess up but once you have a lot of money,successful games in your background and a huge fanbase one mistake won't make all that go away 

[KingGuy420]

1. They never said they were killing the Andromeda series. They just said they weren't jumping right into another one. People jumped to the assumption that it was because of the hate. Completely ignoring the fact that it was much more likely due to the fact that Bioware already had two major IP's in development.

 

2. Bioware just relocated to the Motive offices while their new, bigger, studio is being built. They're actually in the process of hiring 100 new people to fill the new offices. If the studio getting bigger is a sign of the end times, then I don't know what to think anymore.

 

Despite all the hate, Andromeda was actually a success, sales wise. Why everyone jumps to these wilds assumptions is beyond me.... Especially when all this information exists around the net lol.

 

Also, don't forget that Bioware makes The Old Republic which is still very successful and a constant revenue stream for the studio. That alone can keep them above water.

Edited August 1, 2017 by KingGuy420

[HaSoOoN-MHD]

37 minutes ago, Sypher-KoS said:

EA has slowly been killing Bioware for years.  They've done this to other studios in the past like Westwood.  Westwood used to make the Command and Conquer series and Red Alert and was one of my favorite RTS developers back in the day.  Slowly and surely EA forced Westwood to release more and more inferior products until only the name remained and they were ultimately dissolved and the different people sent to work elsewhere within EA or just leaving.

 

Bioware is a shell of their former selves and has been for quite some time.  Anthem may be the final nail since it appears they are abandoning RPG's to make a Destiny like MMO.  They might have one last final gasp with Dragon Age 4 but after those two projects I wouldn't be surprised if they were dismantled like the other companies EA has buried and they start releasing garbage under the Bioware name until its no longer profitable.

 

I don't feel Andromeda alone is to blame for the downfall of Bioware but their days are numbered.

Zzzz for melodramatic nonsense.

 

BioWare makes good games that bring in good money. Andromeda did not and the vision this studio had for it failed to deliver, even if it wasn't entirely their fault. They're not dying; Anthem is not a Destiny like MMO because it will have a BioWare story and Dragon Age Inquisition broke records for the series and was herladed as 2014's GOTY.

[NaseemJohn]

I should also add that BioWare have some of the most outlandish fans I've ever seen. Putting up a petition and shitting on a game because they didn't like the fact that Sheppard died at the end of Mass effect 3? Thats probably one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen in gaming 

[Undead Wolf]

11 minutes ago, NaseemJohn said:

I should also add that BioWare have some of the most outlandish fans I've ever seen. Putting up a petition and shitting on a game because they didn't like the fact that Sheppard died at the end of Mass effect 3? Thats probably one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen in gaming 

 

You clearly don't know what you're talking about. It wasn't the fact that Shepard died at the end of ME3 that fans had it a problem with, it was how in the end, NONE of the choices you made actually mattered, and for a series like Mass Effect, that's pretty damn important. We got three different endings which basically came down to what colour filter do you want over the last cutscene; red, green, or blue? The ending was some deus ex machina bullshit. It made no sense, it introduced a whole lot of plot holes, and then we're told just to accept it. So yes, when a series as beloved as Mass Effect ends like that, the fans are bound to get upset. Oh, but sure, Shepard's death was the thing that caused people to be outraged, lol. ?

[Sypher-KoS]

9 minutes ago, HaSoOoN-MHD said:

Zzzz for melodramatic nonsense.

 

BioWare makes good games that bring in good money. Andromeda did not and the vision this studio had for it failed to deliver, even if it wasn't entirely their fault. They're not dying; Anthem is not a Destiny like MMO because it will have a BioWare story and Dragon Age Inquisition broke records for the series and was herladed as 2014's GOTY.

 

 

The problem Bioware has is that they took a hit to reputation quite a few times in the past few years.  The poor fan response to DA2, ME3, TOR and MEA is costing them credibility and makes the fan base have less confidence in them moving forward.  Anthem is not going to be a standard Bioware RPG and if it's bad or not well received by their base they really need to hit one out of the park with Dragon Age 4.  If both of those games fail to win over fans then they will be in trouble.  

 

As I said I've seen this happen before with EA, just look at the trail of bodies.

 

Pandemic-  Battlefront 1 + 2

Black Box- Need for Speed, Skate

Origin Systems- Ultima, Wing Commander

Maxis-Sim City, The Sims

Westwood Studios- Command and Conquer, Red Alert

 

Bioware does make money, but I think now people will approach cautiously rather than enthusiastically and if they are not making the profit they were making then see the above list

[ImplyingYouCare]

Well first off, they absorbed Bioware Montreal into another studio. The main Edmonton branch still exists and is still working on Anthem.

 

But like other people said, this exactly the kind of thing that EA has been doing for years. They go around buying out successful companies and then gut them. Everyone notable who originally worked at Bioware is now gone. Just look at the history of the companies that they've bought out and killed- Bullfrog, Pandemic, and Westwood. 

 

If things like this continue, I won't be surprised at all. General distaste for Bioware games has been mounting for years. Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3 were both met with huge backlash by fans that still gets talked about now, and the public knowledge of how awful EA's business practices are just keeps growing. People were already sick of intrusive DRM, forcing you to use Origin, always online, early server closings, project $10, needless multiplayer, online passes, day one DLC they tried to hide in servers, Simcity launching completely broken, and a whole lot more. There is a damn good reason they've won the "Worst Company of the Year" award multiple times, and it's because they're deeply anti-consumer. 

 

Andromeda is just the latest and arguably most mainstream fiasco that they've had. The game had a ridiculous amount of problems at launch that go way beyond poor facial animations, and the media made a pretty big deal about it before the game even launched. The majority of the people interested in the game knew about these things and it seems like it effected sales. It sold worse in it's first week than Mass Effect 2 or 3 did and worse review scores too, so EA is merging the studio and putting the series on hiatus. They stopped Dead Space 4's preproduction for the same reason years ago when they decided that 3 had underperformed. 

 

[Lonemankane]

Well I think bioware would not die soon or a few years from now as they still own, dragon age and dead space and a few other big name games.

[Undead Wolf]

3 minutes ago, KANERKB said:

Well I think bioware would not die soon or a few years from now as they still own, dragon age and dead space and a few other big name games.

 

They have nothing to do with Dead Space, let alone own the IP. I think you're getting a bit confused with EA there, champ. 

[Lonemankane]

1 minute ago, Undead Wolf said:

 

They have nothing to do with Dead Space, let alone own the IP. I think you're getting a bit confused with EA there, champ. 

Oh yeah my bad thought it was as I was thinking of the dead space n7 armor thing you get for having the save from mass effect 3 and same with kingdoms of amalur.

[Redgrave]

BioWare isn't dead but I wouldn't expect anything related to Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc. for a good while. The only thing I can see them making that can pull them through is another Star Wars game like KOTOR or any other Star Wars game since that's a guaranteed money pit, and guess who owns the rights to making Star Wars games for the next several years. Their Destiny clone doesn't give me any optimism and if that winds up not doing well (which I don't expect it to) then BioWare will probably fade off into the background until they manage to make something good or a Star Wars game.

[madbuk]

The problem with Andromeda is it was made by a new team of developers whose previous experiences in game development had mostly been DLC, I believe. Maybe they developed a game or two as well, but they certainly weren't the team behind the original trilogy.

Just because Andromeda was a flop, don't write off Dragon Age just yet. I'm sure that's by the same team who did Inquisition (which was the worst Dragon Age imo, but still okay), so hopefully that series will live on.

It's certainly not the end of Bioware, though.

[SnowxSakura]

57 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

 

You clearly don't know what you're talking about. It wasn't the fact that Shepard died at the end of ME3 that fans had it a problem with, it was how in the end, NONE of the choices you made actually mattered, and for a series like Mass Effect, that's pretty damn important. We got three different endings which basically came down to what colour filter do you want over the last cutscene; red, green, or blue? The ending was some deus ex machina bullshit. It made no sense, it introduced a whole lot of plot holes, and then we're told just to accept it. So yes, when a series as beloved as Mass Effect ends like that, the fans are bound to get upset. Oh, but sure, Shepard's death was the thing that caused people to be outraged, lol. 

The worst part is the one guy that ruined it, Casey Hudson recently rejoined bioware

[MissShake]

2 minutes ago, SnowxSakura said:

The worst part is the one guy that ruined it, Casey Hudson recently rejoined bioware

 

And the WORST worst part is that there are people who are saying he's gonna save Bioware! Like, what???

[ExHaseo]

To be fair, Bioware has been on the decline since being picked up by EA. Mass Effect was good, but the series is wildly inconsistent, the finale was unsatisfying, and it became an engine for anti-consumer DLC practices. Like cutting out parts of the game to be overpriced DLC, having day one "DLC", and having a F2P model multiplayer even though it was a full price game. I don't know much about the Dragon Age series, as I played a few hours of Origins, and didn't like it. So I didn't go back to the series.

 

Anyway, point of all of this, is that they made truly great games back before being bought by EA. Stuff like KOTOR, Jade Empire, and Baldur's Gate. They've been in decline thanks to EA being a shitty anti-consumerist company that only cares about making money, and not putting out a quality product. Because of this, Bioware has had their hands tied since being bought, and will only continue to be in decline until they ultimately die and are disassembled by EA. Which I can't wait for. Hopefully when that happens, the people who made Bioware great will be able to leave and reform a new company, where they can make good games again.

[ShadowStar83x]

I just thought it was one of their studios merging with another. BioWare as a whole isn't gone....but they definitely aren't what they were.

[SkyMason]

Think the OP's being a bit hyperbolic, but IMO Mass Effect Andromeda's biggest crime was just being incredibly dull. I'm trying to go through it but i have so little motivation. There's no payoff to anything, or at least none worth while.