Call me callous, but this is just the way the real world is. Anyone with a brain left at Bioware should have seen the writing on the wall after the reception of the last few games and been dusting off their resumes/looking to jump ship.
People there largely fall into two categories:
1. An active part of the recent garbage they made.
2. Normal people just trying to do their jobs in an industry they love and dealing with unreasonable demands/creative restrictions from on high. (The majority, I suspect).
Even if 2 is the majority, the "writing on the wall" sentiment is still applicable. Game dev is tech sector-adjacent to actual tech sector depending on your position. Shitty decisions from on high resulting in business sectors/divisions/entire companies shuttering has been the norm for at least the two decades I've been in the space and likely much longer.
TL;DR: This should surprise very few people and if they weren't at least somewhat prepared for it it's kind of their fault.
Publishers making poor business decisions, or creative decisions that ruin what you are trying to make is part in parcel in every studio owned or published by them. Bioware has been existing for the last few years as most owned studios do...doing their very best, fighting most likely an uphill battle on getting games done...and hoping they have a job the next day. I wasn't at Bioware, but I made video games for 10 years for studios owned by huge publishers. and like I tried to say, the writing is on the wall from day 1. Everyone is looking to get to a place where they can make an impact, where they can participate in making something cool, everyone is kind of always looking or even casually looking...even if they are making something they love.
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u/R4nD0m57 8h ago
reasonable take after that new dragon age