r/rpg_gamers • u/Asad_Farooqui • 8h ago
News EA shutting down BioWare, new Mass Effect game cancelled
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u/Jidarious 7h ago
I cannot think of a better example to indicate just how bad at their jobs the people managing EA are.
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u/East-Marsupial-9402 7h ago
True, but let's not pretend the management was the only one bad at their jobs at Bioware.
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u/tomorrow_comes 7h ago
True, but this is because the good people from BioWare left due to EA management.
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u/Hyulquen 7h ago
The Bioware from the last 10 years are not the Bioware from the first 20 years. The name it's the only thing remains.
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u/Jordamine 6h ago
That's usually the result from change in management.
A strong manifesto with genuine belief behind it being first and foremost would normally hold regardless of who's managing. When that statement gets pushed back, things tend to fall and crumble
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u/midnight_toker22 5h ago
And the management that drove BioWare into the ground were put there by EA.
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u/IAmNotYourEater 7h ago
Bioware let the good writers and developers who made their legendary games leave and handed all control to a guy who decided what people wanted in the new Dragon Age game wasn't a continuation of the previous games plot but rather an hours long sidequest of his self insert coming out in the most cringy possible way, can't blame Ea for that
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u/noconverse 6h ago
A big part of that was still EA. They ordered them to make Veilguard a Live-Service online multiplayer game, then told them 'wait no, go back' a few years later, but without ever giving them the necessary time to rebuild things from the ground up
Like much of the industry, EA executives were growing increasingly enamored of so-called live-service games, such as Destiny and Overwatch, in which players continue to engage with and spend money on a title for months or even years after its initial release. With EA aiming to make a splash in the fast-growing category, BioWare poured resources into Anthem, a live-service shooter game that checked all the right boxes.
One day in October 2017, Laidlaw summoned his colleagues into a conference room and pulled out a few pricey bottles of whisky. The next Dragon Age sequel, he told the room, would also be pivoting to an online, live-service game — a decision from above that he disagreed with. He was resigning from the studio.
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Throughout 2020, the pandemic disrupted the game’s already fraught development. In December, Hudson, the head of the studio, and Darrah, the head of the franchise, resigned. Shortly thereafter, Gary McKay, BioWare’s new studio head, revealed yet another shift in strategy. Moving forward, the next Dragon Age would no longer be multiplayer.
In theory, the reversion back to Dragon Age’s tried-and-true, single-player format should have been welcome news inside BioWare. But there was a catch. Typically, this kind of pivot would be coupled with a reset and a period of pre-production allowing the designers to formulate a new vision for the game. Instead, the team was asked to change the game’s fundamental structure and recast the entire story on the fly, according to people familiar with the new marching orders. They were given a year and a half to finish and told to aim for as wide a market as possible.
This strict deadline became a recurring problem. The development team would make decisions believing that they had less than a year to release the game, which severely limited the stories they could tell and the world they could build. Then the title would inevitably be delayed a few months, at which point they’d be stuck with those old decisions with no chance to stop and reevaluate what was working.
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u/MightAsWell6 6h ago
Well unfortunately their job isn't to make good games.
They are subhuman corpo filth
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u/Due_Teaching_6974 7h ago
To be fair EA did give them a lot of chances, more than Visceral games at least
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u/countryd0ctor 7h ago
I don't feel absolutely anything. The Bioware that basically formed my childhood and adolescence is long gone. It is surprising they straight up iced new Mass Effect though - wonder how far along the dev cycle it was.
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u/KLXDKAO 7h ago
We've been hearing about a new ME game being in development for years at this point, back in 2024 when Veilguard was coming out, there already were talks about a ME game being worked on by a different team for years and now this post says that it was in "early development."
The fuck was the ME team doing all those years?68
u/Agreeable_Bee_7763 7h ago
If it was anything like how they did that live service of theirs, basically nothing. There are multiple reports of how management was so shit they basically had to rush the entire game in the second half of the dev cycle every time. Called the fact that the game still came out good "bioware magic".
I can honestly see EA going there, asking what they had of the new mass effect, being bombarded with concepts and nothing else, and making this decision.
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u/renome 7h ago
Bioware magic is just shorthand for soul-crushing crunch. Always has been.
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u/BenKen01 7h ago
Everyone knows that except the execs who gut the teams, hoping that keeping the name of the studio means keeping the magic. And then they’re shocked when the magic stops working.
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u/mysticdragonknight 6h ago
I think announcing new mainline title after a huge miss with vague hints is a sign that the studio was a sinking ship and wanted to make some kind of appeal to stay afloat. Thats not to say they didnt work on stuff but when the publisher comes knocking to see your work, thats usually how these things get announced.
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u/pothkan 7h ago
Exactly.
I have finished Veilguard. It was a disappointment, but it wasn't a bad game. There was something good buried underneath. But reading about the mess the development of that game was, I am surprised it was even released.
And unfortunately, it's also the story of all previous games after Mass Effect 3. Inquisition, unnecessarilly bloated with redundant content (fans of the setting will literally recommend you to ignore whole maps). Andromeda, which could be something great (I still think it's very good game, albeit of course below the Trilogy), and which actually could be improved, but support was cut short nearly immediately, because BioWare was crazy about Anthem. Which we all know how did end.
People used to say it's all EA fault, but unfortunately it was mostly BioWare mismanagement. Maybe actual EA fault was allowing them too much of freedom. We'll never know.
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u/Trakor117 6h ago
Even before ME3 tbh, da2 is famous for having a criminally short dev time. Every game released would gave genuinely been a 12/10 masterpiece if they’d been allowed another year to cook
Hell wasn’t me3 rushed as well?
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u/pothkan 6h ago
Indeed, which is kind of funny because DA2 actually had the best storyline and writing in the series. But oh boy, were some parts half-assed.
Also, regarding ME3 - current opinion is probably severely improved thanks to inclusion (in remastered release etc.) of various DLC (a.e. Citadel) as well as improved endings.
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u/internetisporn8008 6h ago
I love inquisition... I loved the complexity of it.. yeah aome maps were basically just extra content... but they were still fun to explore.. games like these shouldnt be only about the story.
Then veilguard came out... and they got rid of almost all the crafting.. I platinumed the game in less than 100 hours... its like they dumbed it down for a tik tok era consumer...
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u/bababayee 7h ago
Yeah this was long overdue honestly. EA made them die a slow death, not that Bioware devs themselves aren't to blame as well, it just got worse and worse.
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u/KMoosetoe Dragon Quest 4h ago
That new Mass Effect was another 4 years away at least, and that's being incredibly optimistic
It was taking way too long
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u/ShaunTrek 4h ago
The first thing I noticed in this announcement was that they said the ME was in "early development." A game that they announced six years ago.
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u/Various-Barber-7162 7h ago
Absolutely. Even the games they mentioned is probably way older than anybody who is on the Bioware developer team.
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u/Yarzeda2024 6h ago
I'm not sorry to see the current Bioware go, but I feel awful for all the people losing their jobs.
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u/DroogieHowser 7h ago
For Mass Effect fans, now our hope truly hinges on Exodus and The Expanse being good. From playing the Expanse beta I'm confident they can pull it off.
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u/bababayee 7h ago
So far I trust Owlcat, their games aren't for everyone (big part is just the combat/rule system in the Pathfinder games though), but after playing both Pathfinder games and Rogue Trader I don't see them ever spitting on players' choices as much as Mass Effect 3 did.
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u/MechTorfowiec 7h ago
I would love Owlcat games if theye were 50% shorter and 200% more finished on the release.
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u/CosmicRes 7h ago
Modern day Bioware was never going to make a good Mass Effect game anyway. That studio died a long time ago.
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u/XephyrGW2 3h ago
I think most of us know this, but there's somehow always that last sliver of hope as long as the studio still exists. It's like waiting for GRRM to finish Winds of Winter. We all know it's futile, but we just can't help ourselves. 🥲
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u/Zamarak 7h ago
I have heard about neither (kinda out of the loop on sci fi games). Can someone give me a rundown as to why us Mass Effect fans are looking at these games?
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u/Piecesof3ight 6h ago
The Expanse is a famed and well loved book series with an established visual style from a positively received TV series. It's a great hard scifi setting with a solid character focus and interesting social, political, and military conflicts.
I know nothing about Exodus, other than Wizards of the Coast is publishing it. That does not inspire confidence, as most of what they touch these days is pretty family friendly and lacking depth or nuance. I'd expect something like Veilguard from them.
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u/ichkanns 7h ago
Sad, but not surprising. They might be the company that made those games, but they're not the people who made those games, and there's only so many bad games you can make before it's time to go.
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u/haseo1997 Baldur's Gate 7h ago
Dragon Age deserved so much better. What a wasted IP.
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u/AffectionateWhile507 7h ago
These studios have been dead for 10+ years. It's not the name; it's the talent. And the talent is long gone.
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u/Vynxe_Vainglory 7h ago
You can rest in the fact that the real BioWare died long ago.
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u/cr0ne 7h ago
In the movie Demolition Man, John Spartan wakes up after a 36 year cryogenic sleep to learn that every restaurant is now Taco Bell.
Taco Bell won the Franchise Wars...
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u/Glittering-Let9989 7h ago
What do they mean "early development" of the next mass effect. I thought that had been in the works for quite a while?
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u/juliankennedy23 7h ago
I mean I'm not the biggest Inquisition fan on Earth but it did win game of the year and sold a gazillion copies doesn't really belong in the same paragraph as those other two.
The real question is how can you have one of the best selling games of the year and then wait 10 years to make the next one.
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u/DudeFilA 7h ago
DA wasn't the same after the original. They messed with what made it DA and it lost its identity. Every game since has felt like a different franchise. ME:Andromeda came out to a bunch of bugs and such, but more importantly, the ME fanbase didn't embrace it.
I doubt the IP has much worth at this point either. So it's gonna just rot until nobody cares about it.
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u/XcoldhandsX 6h ago
I agree completely. IMO DA: Origins is the best BioWare game ever made, but they dropped the ball hard with the series.
I have some Gen Z friends who were too young to have played Origins when it came out. Several of them have tried DA: Veilguard or Anthem and felt pretty disappointed. I’ve tried to get them to try DA: Origins but apparently it’s “too old”. These guys will put $40 and 40 hours of their life into DA: Veilguard but they won’t even try Origins “because it’s old”. So disappointing.
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u/Skaikrish 7h ago
As predicted. Honestly iam not surprised they didn't put out a Good game in a decade now. After Veilguard flopped and the Saudi takeover I would have been suprised if they didn't kill off BioWare.
And another Legendary studio on EAs graveyard.
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u/ShenaniganNinja 7h ago
Typical outcome for companies bought by EA/Activision/Ubisoft. They destroy the creativity behind them while trying to maximize profit and crash them into the ground. These large corporations are universally awful at managing game development. Sony is making good games but through their other practices they are destroying their reputation and future.
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u/RadzimierzWozniak 6h ago
Its a bit more complex than that. Best selling BioWare games, ME2, ME3 and Inquisition were made under and influenced by EA
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u/sharksandwich81 6h ago
EA bought BioWare 19 years ago. Honestly it’s a miracle that they even kept BioWare on life support this long. They should’ve been euthanized after Anthem bombed
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u/OnionAddictYT 6h ago
I really thought Anthem was is. Studio closing down now. I'm honestly surprised it took that long. Last great content BioWare Release was the Trespassers DLC in 2015. Everything after that was one development hell disaster after another and it was truly painful to witness. BioWare used to be my favorite studio.
But after Veilguard I didn't even want a new Mass Effect. Andromeda was disappointing enough. I couldn't have taken the Veilguard equivalent.
I'm praying for the IP to be sold or licensed now. I have little hope of that. Unlike a lot of BioWare fans I just want more of Mass Effect and I don't care which studio gives me that as long as it's well written.
I'm also a huge Fallout fan who at this points wants anybody but Bethesda to do a new one too. Similar implosion to me. New Vegas was better than FO3 to me. Fallout London was an amazing fan project way better than Starfield was. I'm happy about Obsidian doing a new Fallout even though I'd rather InXile got it but no matter.
Please somebody competent make more Mass Effect and Dragon Ages, I'm begging you!
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u/Grade_A_Tech 5h ago
Run off all of the good writers and developers, replace them with people who barely qualify for the job, if at all, and then complain when they make mediocre (at best) games that do terrible.
The typical march of the corporate "leaders."
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u/a_unicorn_person 7h ago
Fuck. Such a mismanaged studio, but still sad to see a studio of my childhood close.
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u/Smart-Helicopter1539 7h ago
A studio is made of people, and the people who made the games from your childhood are long gone. Look at DA Failguard, it is NOTHING like the original games. I don't even want to imagine a ME game like Failguard.
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u/adricapi 6h ago
Shit. The good bioware was long gone, but I still had hope in the new Mass Effect...
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u/IRiseWithMyRedHair 6h ago
Me too. But honestly, this was probably a blessing. Sheppard's journey was pretty perfect, I'm okay with letting it stay that way (especially after Veilguard).
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u/Kain-rpg 7h ago
Yeah..
KInda saw it comming
The last 3 games Bioware released where fiascos and the "3 decades" of "talented teams" left the building years ago...
RiP Bioware.
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u/Shiblem 7h ago
BioWare was for me hands down the premiere Western RPG developer for a long time similar to how Squaresoft was for JRPGs. I remember when they got bought by EA everyone knew this would be the outcome. Glad we got another 5 or so years of good games after they got bought but yeah they haven't released anything groundbreaking or exciting for a decade+ now.
Still surprising that EA decided the brand wasn't even worth keeping alive at this point. Crazy how many storied studios that company has ground up and destroyed over the years.
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u/CrazyDrowBard 7h ago
Damn, I enjoyed some of their games but this is sad.
Happy to have larian, owlcat and cdprojekt atleast.
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u/justmadeforthat 7h ago
I wish the devs can start a new studio, and actually make the game they actually want now.
2 of their last 3 flops is because of executive meddling to push through with multiplayer (Anthem and Veilguard(early development))
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u/renaissance1977 7h ago
The part people don't understand is that even though Bioware was on its last legs, they were the Dragon Age & Mass Effect teams. EA sure as shit isn't going to use those IPs under a different studio so they're just going to shelve them. Good luck job hunting to the devs.
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u/scytheavatar 7h ago
Dragon Age was always going to be shelved after Veilguard, the explicit goal of the devs in that game was to give the series a sending off anyway. It was always going to be difficult for a DA5 to be made after how Veilguard ended.
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u/Autismmprime 7h ago
It's almost like it's the people involved who make the games good, not the name of the studio. All the actual people who made the good bioware games are long gone and it has been a corpse being puppeted by people who have no idea what they are doing for the past decade.
At least now hopefully a team who is more deserving can have a shot at these IPs.
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u/SirVestire 7h ago
Baldurs Gate 2 had the biggest impact in my entire gaming life. Nothing else was even remotely able to let me feel the same after that. I still tried to give bioware the same reverence from the sheer respect this name has built inside myself from one game alone.
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u/Rewind770 Final Fantasy 7h ago
Sucks it had to happen. People losing jobs is never a fun thing. Hopefully the IPs move another studio to try there own hand at the franchises
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u/Holidoik 7h ago
It won't it will die like dungeon keeper , command and conquer , dead space and all the other ips ea burries. Maybe a gacha smartphone game sometime.
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u/Few_Horse_4 7h ago
BioWare was dead for a long time, this just means no one going to create dog ass sequels rn. Tho I hope rights for franchises are gonna end in the right hands somehow
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u/Banjomir75 2h ago
FINALLY! This was a slow and painful death. Just wish they had closed down before making the abomination that is Dragon Age The Veilguard.
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u/JeskaiJester 7h ago
Frustrating to see some people celebrating this just because Veilguard bad or whatever. Back in my day when EA killed a studio we mourned, damnit.
Electronic Arts are a bunch of no good so and sos, RIP BioWare
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u/fewest_giraffe 7h ago
Sometimes rebuilding from the ground up is the only way forward. It’s clear that BioWare hadn’t released a major, good, and profitable game since DAI in 2014 (12 years ago) and not much of anyone had confidence that whatever they were working on would be any better
The biggest shame is that the IP for Mass Effect and Dragon Age are now homeless. They have so much potential for great stories and games so I hope they get picked up somewhere somehow even if it’s 5+ years for the next game
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u/Etheon44 7h ago
Bioware has been dead for more than a decade really, why would people care about a studio that hasn't done anything remotely remarkable in years
Everyone knew this was coming, it is not that people are celebraring it, but understanding that this was inevitable
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u/Diligent-Chance8044 7h ago
The people that developed made those Franchises are long gone. Retired or moved on to other companies. The EA and Bioware you knew died a long time ago. This is for the best. Make better games and you do not lose your job.
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u/YSoMadTov 7h ago
Bioware has been nothing but a soulless zombie for more than a decade. It's about time someone put it out of it's misery already instead of letting it's name being desecrated further.
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u/Mindless_Fortune1483 7h ago
Studio itself has 0 value if it's just a name. I remember the times of Bullfrog, Sierra, Interplay. If they were still here with us making trash after trash, would it be better? Things die, it's natural to bury a corpse and not keeping it untouched.
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u/PermissionSoggy891 7h ago
it's not "just" Veilguard it's more the fact that Bioware hasn't released a half decent game since DA: I (if we wanna be generous), pretty much the rest of Bioware's output during their final decade was just straight ass. ME Andromeda sucked, Anthem REALLY sucked, Veilguard also REALLY sucked.
At least the other studios EA killed had some good/mediocre output in their final years.
I feel awful for those poor developers who lost their jobs due to shitty management decisions from higher-up, it's ultimately not their fault that Veilguard had a shitty story or that Anthem was envisioned as an MMO by a developer who never made an MMO.
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u/Respond_Previous 3h ago
deserved, they had a real shot with veilguard despite fucking up badly with both andromeda and anthem
they chose to shit all over their own IP and now they pay the price
poor devs, but the people calling the shots were incompetent
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u/se_endelica_dema 7h ago
I... am speechless. They didn't even try to finish mass effect? Is this ea trаsh again, or studio was dead inside?
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u/welzed11 7h ago
This is what happens when you put out 3 flops in a row back to back
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u/DukeOfCheek 7h ago
They dug their own grave.....Saudi Arabias new EA owners threw the dirt on them.
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u/Kitchen_Ad367 7h ago
The real BioWare died in 2013... Possibly 2014 but that's debatable.
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u/aro_plane 7h ago
Not really surprised. Writing of Veilguard was a disgrace and something old Bioware would be too ashamed to claim as theirs. It's better to be put down instead of churning out another souless game.
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u/topscreen 7h ago
Damn, can't say I didn't see it coming, but I was hoping the studio or IPs would at least be sold. They're trying to make up for all the debt from the Saudi acquisition, so I figured they actually sell some stuff
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u/noimnofood 7h ago
Nooooooo no more mass effect and dragon age, this def sucks but it was bound to happen
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u/jabol321 7h ago
Thank god, another dragon age would be even more depressing.
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u/Griever2142 7h ago
Unless it's another game like Origins
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u/Katrina_18 7h ago
Makes that random 5 year old “The Next Mass Effect” trailer feel even more insane lol.
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u/ohcrapitspanic 7h ago
This is sad, regardless of the disappointing recent releases. Origins will always be my comfort game to come back to time and again. Their games helped shape my taste in videogames and what would become my love for cRPGs. Tragic to see the studio that bought us some of the all time greats in the genre leave with what feels like a whimper.
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u/B_Side-Mix-tape 6h ago
BioWare saved cRPGs back in the 90s. Baldurs Gate 1 and 2, Iceland Dale... classics.
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u/PhilosopherNo8418 5h ago
Bioware died years ago, it's basically been a zombie since Anthem. The new owners have finally put a bullet in its head to finish it for good. Still, I am sad the studio is no more, mostly for sentimental reasons. No games have given me more joy in my adult years than the ones released by Bioware over the decades.
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u/Mysterious_Fennel459 4h ago
Why would they bother to mention Anthem? Isn't it the cancer that started their downward spiral?
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u/IntelligentMood6864 7h ago
I recently just got into the earlier infinity engine games its really damning to see such a heavy hitter of RPG's go down the drain like this, the way theyve influenced the landcape for crpgs cannot be understated. o7
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u/JerAders Dragon Age 4h ago
I’ve known Dragon Age and Mass Effect since my childhood. I would revisit them every few years and play through them all over again. Dragon Age: Origins, in particular, was the game that made me fall in love with RPGs. They left me with so many wonderful memories, with the exception of their latest entries.
Grey Warden, Hawke, Inquisitor, Commander Shepard… I will never forget you.
I’m not sad that it’s over. I’m happy that it happened.
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u/authenticgucciwatch 7h ago
Good riddance, everyone at the company that made anything decent left a long time ago
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u/DragonSlayr82 7h ago
Saudi Arab now owns EA - I am sure they are evaluating what is viable - such a bummer - I grew up playing these games
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u/Helpful_Carry_4120 7h ago
Can we please stop blaming EA for literally everything and start holding BioWare accountable for once?
BioWare's last three games have been mediocre at best and outright bad at worst.
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u/Agreeable_Bee_7763 7h ago
Yeah, this one was predictable. From shit management and planning that forced people into stupid long crunch and called it "bioware magic", the multiple failed projects, and the absurd decay in writing - once their biggest quality... The studio was a rotten shell of what once was. I hate EA, but I can't in good conscious say they were wrong here.
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u/DanfromCalgary 7h ago
Couldn’t they simply sell to someone else … someone say .. good at what they do
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u/markg900 7h ago
EA does not sell any IPs. They will sit on them and leave them to rot. There is a long list of IPs they have done this with including Ultima, Wing Commander, and Command & Conquer for some big examples. Expect Bioware's IPs to be no different.
EA only cares about games that reach the largest possible target audiences. They give zero fucks about anything they perceive as more niche or having less appeal, nor are they interested in giving someone else a chance to potentially profit off of those IPs, even if they could make a little money from it.
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u/GladiusLegis 7h ago
Sadly, it was only a matter of time. Doubly so with the bonecutters now in charge at EA.
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u/MyLeftNut_ 7h ago
If this happened a decade ago then i would've been upset, but thankfully all the good talent from BioWare have left and joined other studios
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u/Braunb8888 7h ago
Unreal. Hopefully they sell those IPS to someone who deserves them. Fucking embarrassing.
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u/PapaMock 4h ago
As everyone’s said, good BioWare has been dead for a long time. Really wish we could’ve seen a remastered DAO and mass effect has always been my favorite series. Sad to see it finally go.
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u/LostAd7938 7h ago edited 7h ago
What a terrible job by EA managing one of gaming's most talented and passionate employees (edit: I'm referring to the very long, slow decline since they bought Bioware back in the day)
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u/Sylvers 7h ago
I am convinced Dragon Age the Veilguard was the death knell. I had hopes Mass Effect 4 would give them one last chance.
But I bet we'll hear reports soon about how that game was stuck in dev hell, and was probably going to become its own disastrous Veilguard outcome and someone high up just pulled the plug.
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u/Walshnetwork 5h ago
And so yet another tale of the EA life cycle comes to a close; buy a successful Indy studio, wear its skin suit until the creativity and community good will is dead, then discard the husk as a loss write-down.
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u/AshyLarry25 7h ago
Can’t afford another Dragon Age the Failguard
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u/ImSoinLoveWithSkinny 7h ago
Think that was the final nail in the coffin with that corporate checklist stuff
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u/ShionTheOne 7h ago
BioWare hadn't developed anything worthy in the past 10+ years. Kinda surprised they lasted this long.
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u/YogurtCloset6969420 7h ago
Wow. Did not see that coming. I imagine some studio will purchase the mass effect IP
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u/markg900 7h ago
Unfortunately EA tends to sit on old IPs and leave them to rot. Mass Effect will be no different.
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u/Last__Dawn 7h ago
Current EA may be desperate enough for cash that this will change. Mass Effect as an IP isn't anything special (to me), it was a simple story that was well told. The magic was the well told part.
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u/markg900 7h ago
While I'm not surprised about Bioware, I thought EA might have them at least finish the upcoming Mass Effect.
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u/Palanki96 7h ago
oh wow
sure i only liked the Mass Effect trilogy but still but that's a pretty big name
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u/Reading_at_work 7h ago
Devastating news. Bioware games have been part of my childhood. EA infests anything it touches.
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u/Wildernaess 7h ago
Sad to see them end on a low note instead of a triumphant send-off, but after Veilguard I'm surprised they lasted this long
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u/testsubject793 7h ago
Ffs. The lead writer of Deus Ex Mankind Divided and Guardians of the Galaxy worked on this. I really wanted this Mass Effect :(
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u/Arawn-Annwn 7h ago
Remember when Interplay killed Black Isle Studios? Man I feel old. Black isle and the old bioware of yesteryear made so much of my gaming youth.
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u/drinkteawatchcinema 7h ago
Next: layoff announcements and more bullshit about what to do with their creative team.
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u/markg900 7h ago
Articles out there already sound like they are laid off and saying 400 employees.
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u/darkuen 7h ago
Used to be my favorite developers bar none. I was there supporting them from just before BG1 days but the quality started dropping a few years after EA acquired them then started providing more than just funding and started imposing strict timelines, oversimplification of gameplay, online requirements, live service requirement..etc
They were a pale shadow of the studio they used to be and I already mourned them years ago.
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u/meta_level 7h ago
RIP. I bought every Bioware game on release, and enjoyed most of them immensely. They had a good run.
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u/SuspectAwkward8914 7h ago
Hopefully this leads to any residual key staff moving on to new companies to make similar games - like Exodus.
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u/Hufflepuff20 6h ago
I say this as a huge huge huge Dragon Age fan: I knew it was over when Veilguard came out. That game and the wreck that was its development felt like the last squawk of a dying bird.
I am sad but not surprised.
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u/cdog215546 5h ago
I'm not surprised in the slightest, but I still feel sad. It feels like watching someone close to you die from cancer, but you're still caught off guard even though you were with them as the cancer slowly won.
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u/canadarugby 7h ago
At least EA is owned by Saudi Arabia now, their games are in good hands. /s
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u/IndependentCress1109 7h ago
Biowares been dead for years. We're just seeing the corpse finally being buried.
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u/Turbulent-You2987 7h ago
Sorry... Early development? It was announced bloody years ago
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u/Affectionate-Gas-150 6h ago
Im not surprised at all with this. They have not had a good game in a while. Sure look back with fond memories of the good days but realize they been shit for a while. And I was fan and really enjoyed Anthem. Yet most people will say thats when the shit show started.
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u/Kat_Box_Suicide 5h ago
This sucks. But their track record has been ass. I won’t forget the awesome titles they gave us.
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u/OmikronIE 7h ago
Sad to see, but as others have said, good Bioware was long gone.
Dragon's Age Origins is my favourite game of all time, if it's amazing.
People rightly rail on Veilguard, but I always find it funny when they defend Inquisition. Even just as a game, out side of Dragon Age, I thought it was mediocre. But as a Dragon Age game it was bad.
Inquisiton was nothing like Origins, and holding the two up together is hard to believe they are the same series. Veilguard and Inquisition are similar, but Veilguard has all the bad aspects ramped up to 11.
Even Dragon Age is much better than Inquisition and it was only so-so.
Hopefully another group with passion and talent come along and fill the void.
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u/Helpful-Way-8543 Dragon Age 7h ago
Bag on Inquisition all you want, and I'm sure I'll agree with you on some of those points, but you know it doesn't matter -- It pulled impressive numbers for the series and made lots of money for the company which are both facts. The game brought in a ton of new players while adding to the lore and keeping true to the tone of Dragon Age. "But I disagree" - you, and that's cool and neat and quirky.
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u/DrMagunstheBlue 5h ago
I don't like Inquisition either but lumping it in with Bioware's other failures is stupid when it is by far the best-selling Dragon Age game.
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u/GoodGrades 7h ago
2 was extremely rushed, but it had heart. It told a genuinely interesting narrative about the life of a war refugee in a new city over the course of a decade, something that I'd never seen before in a fantasy RPG. Compared to that, 3 was just so generic and represented some of the worst aspects of mindless open world slop.
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u/AscendedViking7 7h ago
RIP Bioware. Mass Effect 1-3, Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 and Dragon Age Origins were fucking legit.