Bye bye Bioware :(

Well this is depressing.

Also note how much of that article is about how this'll benefit EA's shareholders. Because we all know, when somebody has great artistic capacity and capability to empower your own artistic side, you want to team up. And we all know that when two groups want to team up, one group has to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to force the other group to cooperate.

Very sad indeed.

Goodbye Bioware. Hello forced multi-console ports across all platforms in true EA style. My guess is we will see a Special edition of Mass Effect for the PS3 some time next year.

I was actually relieved because the thread title made it look like they were going bankrupt. Although a clean death may be better in the long run than this...

Yeah, that's a shame. Another set of titles bound to be an endless stream of progressively more degenerative "sequels".

Everyone's shedding tears for Bioware, but what abount Pandemic? Pandemic with their outsourced mod tools and gaming scripts. I've always had a soft spot for them ever since they released DR2. Wish people still played that ... /weep

It's a sad, sad day. I really hope that some of the good guys quit their jobs and open a new Studio. I'm not interessted in NWN 2008, NWN 2009, ... and with High-End Graphics on XBox360/PS3 and PS2 engine on the PC!

People are overreacting. Do you realize that the current CEO of EA is the previous CEO of Bioware/Pandemic? He was their CEO while they were planning Mass effect and the other upcomming title. So I dont see why there would be any dramatic changes in they way they do things.

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Original post by Steadtler People are overreacting.

I agree. Personally, I think EA as a whole has a worse reputation than it should, and I would be surprised if all that much changes as far as what we can expect from Bioware and Pandemic.

Oh, poor poor Bioware. I'm sure they're crying all the way to the bank.

The assumption that EA is going to kill those companies is a bit paranoid, isn't it? Sure, they could pull a Westwood (who were destroyed by the EA merger)... or they could just as easily become another Maxis (who have done nothing but benefit from EA ownership).

EA has certainly earned it's bad reputation, but that doesn't mean that everything they touch turns to ash.

I for one am looking forward to Mass Effect 2009.

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Original post by Promit I for one am looking forward to Mass Effect 2009.

With a brand new licensed soundtrack! [grin]

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Original post by JBourrie EA has certainly earned it's bad reputation, but that doesn't mean that everything they touch turns to ash.

A problem is that BioWare really doesn't have much room to benefit. They're already doing amazingly well. EA can't offer them anything because they don't need anything. With EA in control of every IP Bioware creates now and (more importantly) wants to create, there is a good chance of this relationship hindering the studio. If EA was in control a couple years ago we would be getting KOTOR III instead of Mass Effect.

For the most part day-to-day life at Bioware will no doubt not change much, but a few stupid execs can ruin a whole lot of projects and EA has plenty of crazy big-shots at the top to spare.

Also keep in mind that just as plenty of random people on the intarwebs get upset over these sorts of takeovers, so do actual employees of the studio. Those people are often the ones who make the studio so great in the first place and over time they tend to leave in frustration.

Basically, the best thing to look forward to is either a)Bioware not going down the shitter, or b)ex-Bioware employees creating a new kick-ass company and starting the whole process over again. Status quo as the best possible result is a little disparaging.

I'm slightly worried. EA have been known to run some fantastic franchises into the ground (C&C, for example; Generals and Tiberium Wars are pretty poor on the whole IMHO), but they have put out some scorchers over the years too. I am worried about the trend in EA buying up anybody who produces a good game from time to time, I just hope people like Infinity Ward aren't lined up next.

EA are known for waving ridiculous-sized bags of cash at development studios, winning them over, and then treating them as their bitch forever afterwards and treating them like slaves.

However, I for one think that EA Sports games are brilliant and always have been, and it's for that reason that I think people are wrong to slate EA on the whole. The sports games are great, even if they do copy-and-paste the menu code between their games (seriously, the menu system for all EA Sports games from 07 onwards is 100% identical) and have that soundtrack ticker in the bottom left, these are all EA hallmarks and I am happy to see them in game. Plus the 2K8 sports games this year aren't as good as the EA official ones.

However, can you guarantee that the newly-purchased studios would always be producing great games anyway? I personally thought Bioshock to be somewhat meh, yes it was extremely shiny but it just got plain boring and annoying after a while. Plus, once Bioware dried up that avenue of innovation with the shiny graphics and Plasmids and all of that, where next? What I'm trying to say is that there is no guarantee their next game would have been great so it is entirely wrong to blame EA for any future cockups.

And Dragon Age?

Well at least Mass Effect will be good still. My guess is that Bioware's games will start having the same quality as the sequels they pawned off to other developers (IE: utter crap).

But, It won't be any different since all they will be doing are sequels from now on...

Looking on the bright side, if EA does happen to run Bioware into the ground then there'll be a big hole in the PC market for good story-driven RPGs. We'd better get cracking [smile].

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Original post by LockePick If EA was in control a couple years ago we would be getting KOTOR III instead of Mass Effect.

And it would be on Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, DS, Wii, PC and probably even Gameboy if they can manage it.

I remember when EA took over Mythic. Within what seemed like days, news reports came out that there might now be a Xbox 360 and PS3 version of Warhammer Online planned. Naturally everyone shat a brick over Warhammer turning into something like Shadowrun, and Mythic came out on damage control saying they had no plans yet, it's just a maybe. It's up to EA now, not you Mythic.

EA can make some great products (Skate rocks my face off), but their obsession with whoring games out to every game system on the market just in the name of profits can really hurt development in the long run.

I'm in shock!!!!...

I always thought I'd be playing Neverwinter VI at age 80 (good version, not EA version). Now I feel like Faerun is dead!

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Original post by Silver Phoenix I'm in shock!!!!... I always thought I'd be playing Neverwinter VI at age 80 (good version, not EA version). Now I feel like Faerun is dead!

Considering that NWN2 was such a pile of crap and done by Obsidian, not Bioware, I'ld say that your talking out of your rear end.

Gosh guys, why dont you even bother to check your facts before whining.