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[Squishy3]

bioware is working on one of their bigger project right now so i guess they're safe

until it probably underperforms because all the people wanting a destiny like game... will just play destiny

which will probably have a $60 destiny 2 bundle with everything available thus far by the time anthem comes out

 

[Syraxith]

... More? You and me both know modern Bioware is not what classic Bioware would have morphed into had it stayed independent.

Yep. I still remember Bioware when they released Neverwinter Nights, the game had such an active community in its heyday.

All it will take for Bioware to be next on the chopping block is for Anthem to be unprofitable. This is not a far-fetched idea.

So is EA going to eventually be just EA sports and a mobile app developer? Certainly seems that way.

 

[Experien]

Yep. I still remember Bioware when they released Neverwinter Nights, the game had such an active community in its heyday.

All it will take for Bioware to be next on the chopping block is for Anthem to be unprofitable. This is not a far-fetched idea.

So is EA going to eventually be just EA sports and a mobile app developer? Certainly seems that way.

and dice and sims!

 

[Gagaman]

Can EA just shut themselves down.

 

[Tony Redgrave]

What a bullshit reason to close it down, rapidly changing landscape my ass they probably want to change it into some kind of multiplayer TPS RPG hybrid and fill it to the brim with loot boxes. I wouldn't put EA beyond cannibalizing Anthem.

Sigh. I couldn't care less for Star Wars at this point but putting Visceral down is the worse, first because of all the layoffs and second because of Dead Space.

 

[facetheslayer92]

Damn it's been 10 years already...

Haha time flies. This was also when GIs were 175 pages thick :/

 

[Tali'Zorah]

This has made me so sad. Feels like the possible end to any single player only games from EA. I was so hyped for the Star Wars game too, it sounded really promising with Amy involved.

Hope all those affected by this find new work soon, it was a talented studio.

 

[Audioboxer]

until it probably underperforms because all the people wanting a destiny like game... will just play destiny

which will probably have a $60 destiny 2 bundle with everything available thus far by the time anthem comes out

Or they will be playing Battlefield or COD. I seriously doubt Anthem is going to do anything near what EA will want from it. Bioware is on life support after MEA as it stands. Didn't one of the old time Dragon Age leads bail? Probably running now before it gets even more stressful for Bioware.

 

[Ondor]

One of my favourite studios. This is a sad day.

 

[TyrantII]

Fuck EA.

Glad I haven't purchased a game from em in a good long while. I'll keep that up.

EA, Buy used!

 

[Syraxith]

and dice and sims!

I think DICE has a clause in their contract where they're not a completely owned subsidiary of EA. I haven't independently verified this myself.

Glad I haven't purchased a game from em in a good long while. I'll keep that up.

Same here. The game they release just don't interest me in the slightest anymore. I think the last game I bought that has the EA logo on it is Dragon Age inquisition, and it would take a return to the gameplay of DAO to even get my attention.

 

[GillianSeed79]

First Star Wars 1313 and now this. This was my most hyped announced Star Wars game. It had Amy Henning doing the story FFS. Single player gaming really is dead if a AAA linear, story-based game with the Star Wars license is canned because they don't think they can make a profit. Fuck. Fully expect this to be reworked into some generic ass For Honor games as a service clone complete with loot crates and story told via loading screens. At least single player open world games are still a thing but they suck at telling stories. Looks like sp narrative games ala Hell blade, Lost Legacy and Observer are the new b-tier games.

 

[Drifters]

Gotta be honest, I kinda hope someone buys EA and lays off everyone of their upper management with the memo: "For the gamers...."

 

[Yopis]

Everything will be phone games with crates now.

 

[UpDownLeftRight]

This fucking company is just a parody of itself these days I swear. The company that repeatedly shows up at E3 with next to fuck all if you don't count the sports games, has decided to kill yet another studio. So next year is just the Bioware IP and more sports? Amazing output from one the big 3 publishers, hats off to you guys.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Yep. I still remember Bioware when they released Neverwinter Nights, the game had such an active community in its heyday.

All it will take for Bioware to be next on the chopping block is for Anthem to be unprofitable. This is not a far-fetched idea.

So is EA going to eventually be just EA sports and a mobile app developer? Certainly seems that way.

I think Anthem will be fine fiscally but Mass Effect is in permanent cryostasis and honestly I don't know why anybody would have an emotional attachment to Bioware in the year of our lord 2017. They haven't been "old Bioware" for years and they don't even really feel like 2010 Bioware anymore. Inquisition and Andromeda were like if Ubisoft leaned a bit harder into the RPG elements. Anthem appears to be "It's like Destiny, except with different lore and mechs". There's not much here that would pull you in if you were a fan of NWN and KOTOR, and even KOTOR was like a dumbed down RPG lite compared to the games they originally got started on in the 90's.

 

[z1ggy]

Get fucked EA

So every AAA game will be a service game with loot shitbox stuff.

 

[JeffZero]

I don't know why anybody would have an emotional attachment to Bioware in the year of our lord 2017. They haven't been "old Bioware" for years and they don't even really feel like 2010 Bioware anymore.

Because I legit love Inquisition, warts and all, and -- this is a big one -- because I haven't found a studio to replace that team in my heart. See, like, when it comes to games, for me it's mostly story-driven single-centric or nothing, and I have not yet found something else to latch onto.

 

[Stilton Disco]

Yep. I still remember Bioware when they released Neverwinter Nights, the game had such an active community in its heyday.

All it will take for Bioware to be next on the chopping block is for Anthem to be unprofitable. This is not a far-fetched idea.

So is EA going to eventually be just EA sports and a mobile app developer? Certainly seems that way.

I honestly don’t know who they expect to sell Anthem to.

Certainly not Bioware fans, because it’s the complete opposite of the reasons the Studio’s games garnered fans in the first place.

There’s plenty of GaaS titles out there already to scratch that itch, and Destiny already covers the Sci Fi genre part of it with a far better pedigree in Bungee, along with an established commitment to long term, excellent support through expansions, and we’ll likely have Borderlands 3 and maybe Halo 6 around the same time stealing hype too.

Casual Sci Fi fans have Battlefront, shooter fans will still be falling over themselves with choice, and the same goes for multiplayer aficionados.

Anthem feels like another late to the party also ran, a bigger budget GaaS equivelant to Lawbringers attempt to join the Hero Shooter market, embarrassingly late after everyone else had already carved out a niche.

 

[Vashu]

First Star Wars 1313 and now this. This was my most hyped announced Star Wars game. It had Amy Henning doing the story FFS. Single player gaming really is dead if a AAA linear, story-based game with the Star Wars license is canned because they don't think they can make a profit. Fuck. Fully expect this to be reworked into some generic ass For Honor games as a service clone complete with loot crates and story told via loading screens. At least single player open world games are still a thing but they suck at telling stories. Looks like so narrative games ala Hell blade, Lost Legacy and Observer are the new b-tier games.

Nah, we still got Spider-Man, The Last of Us Part II, Detroit: Become Human, God of War, Days Gone, Ni No Kuni II, Yakuza 6 and Kiwami 2 and much more coming out.

Plus, on the multi-platform side: Wolfenstein II soon, South Park today, Assassin's Creed: Origins, I'm pretty sure Red Dead Redemption will have an extensive singleplayer story, Darksiders III and Kingdom Hearts III, among others.

But yeah, I'm pretty pissed as I was looking out for a new Amy Hennig game with a great story and fun gameplay. Heck, they even got Jade Raymond and Kim Swift on board for it. I am not happy with EA's statement as it reeks of "we want to monetize the hell out of this and we can't see a way to do that with a lineair story game. So pay us more!"

 

[Dr. Malik]

I really want a Destiny like game that is an action-adventure game instead of everything being FPS so I do hope the next Dragon Age is that game

 

[JeremyEtcetera]

EA following the same patterns as usual.

 

[Speely]

Y'all. I am not a fan of EA by any stretch, but there is a chance that this game just wasn't good. Game development is hard, and even good teams can misstep if even a little bit of mismanagement happens. This kind of mismanagement is even more common when you involve more people.

Not saying this is what happened, but waiting for more info is prolly wise before going all in on ultimatums. Just because EA sucks (it does) doesn't mean that this was their fault.

If

Spoiler

when

this ends up as a GaaS game, I will tip my hat to all of you, but right now this might be as simple as "the game was not that good."

Given the statement, it does certainly seem like a case of "EA gonna EA," but I am waiting for Amy to comment before hurling my pitchfork. Hoping for a nice, in-depth Schrier interview.

 

[jett]

I still have this issue of Game Informer magazine from a decade ago:

RENEGADE TEAM

I had forgotten about that.

I also remember reports of Dead Space sales being initially disappointing, although it made up when it was discounted. Maybe this franchise was not meant to be, and this dev probably shouldn't have made three of them.

 

[PayaV87]

This post can be understood in several ways. Note that there was a moment when there were loads of MOBAs launched every week... the thing is, people who wanted MOBAs already had their favorite MOBAs so there were a few mild successes, and nothing got close to LoL and D2, arguably D2 didn't get close to LoL either but it is definitely on a level of its own. The GaaS space as a whole is bigger, but it is probably also finite, while it's not the case with traditional single player games - same with music or cable/satellite subscriptions, you don't really expect people to get multiple.

This what gets me really angry. (With the EA, not with you.)

Show me anytime when this worked...
Open World crime games are big now lets try that.
Modern era shooters a thing now lets try that.
MMOs are big now.
MOBA is the new thing now.
Card games are where it is.
Online Pass is the new trend, fuck used games.
Season Pass!
Everything has to have multiplayer now.
Everything has to have always online.
Microtransactions are the new thing.
Shared world MMO FPS is the new thing.
Esports!
Card games are the new thing.
Wow lootboxes.
Battle Royale!

No clone has ever been as successful as the initial.

See how many times these ruined a game, genre, studio.
Dead Space 2 multiplayer.
Sim City always online.
Middle-earth MMO
Middle-earth MOBA
Star Wars KOTOR 3 should be MMO.
Medal of Honor Reboot
Dungeon Keeper mobile
Dead Space 3 micro transactions.

Of the top of my head....

Yet, if they would focus on delivering something unique, they would get successes.

Mirror’s Edge could have been successful as a 30$, shorter, linear experience.

Titanfall would have break out with a story mode to care about the setting.

Dead Space could have been a cinematic horror franchise.

No Red Alert, SimCity, Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper, Mirror’s Edge, Mass Effect, Dead Space, Medal of Honor.

They basicly left with EA Sports, Battlefield, Star Wars, and Bioware.

If Disney pulls the plug, and Bioware shot in the head, it’s going to be very grim.

 

[Septimius]

The statement they made is just overflowing with signs of wanting to push in microtransactions and loot boxes, and that focus groups have decided single player games aren't fun.

I fucking hate people that don't get what a focus test is. Fuck you, EA.

 

[facetheslayer92]

RENEGADE TEAM

I had forgotten about that.

I also remember reports of Dead Space sales being initially disappointing, although it made up when it was discounted. Maybe this franchise was not meant to be, and this dev probably shouldn't have made three of them.

Yea it’s a pretty fucking hype description.

 

[Necron]

Everything will be phone games with crates now.

Phone games about opening crates whilst having to buy crates for a chance to open more crates!

 

[EdgeXL]

bioware is working on one of their bigger project right now so i guess they're safe

And Visceral was working on Star Wars. At one point a Star Wars license was a money printer.

 

[Karu]

They probably focus-tested the EA executuve board...

Iwillalways look forward to what BioWare is doing, but it gets harder and harder to get excited about anything EA does.

 

[CosmicRomancer]

Shameful news.

 

[Zaventem]

So can we admit the memes were real all this time?

 

[Syraxith]

I don't know why anybody would have an emotional attachment to Bioware in the year of our lord 2017. They haven't been "old Bioware" for years and they don't even really feel like 2010 Bioware anymore. Inquisition and Andromeda were like if Ubisoft leaned a bit harder into the RPG elements. Anthem appears to be "It's like Destiny, except with different lore and mechs". There's not much here that would pull you in if you were a fan of NWN and KOTOR, and even KOTOR was like a dumbed down RPG lite compared to the games they originally got started on in the 90's.

Nostalgia maybe? I can't think of any reason people (old fans especially) hold bioware in high regard today. Dragon Age 2 & Inquisition were out done by CDProjekt RED, Andromeda apparently bombed horribly and there's more than enough Sci-fi shooter games to take that series' place.

You can feel EA's presence in their recent games such as Inquisition. That game felt like it was trying to one-up Skyrim and failed miserably (the combat was horrible especially on PC).

Bioware game mechanic simplification isn't anything new pre-EA but for lack of a better explanation... the games felt like they had soul. Like the designers really loved building their worlds. The mechanics while increasingly simple were fun in their own right... balance issues not withstanding. The writing was serviceable but there were always at least one character or story event that was memorable. Jade Empire being the exception.

Now with EA calling the shots Inquisition just felt like "designed by focus group committee, developed on media corporation conveyor belt".

If there's one good thing about Bioware fading out it would be there might be a few former employees feeling entrepreneurial enough to open their own studios. Like Obsidian from Black Isle Studio's closing.

I'm still waiting for the day a new NWN game is announced with a toolset that doesn't have a steep learning curve. I won't hold my breath.

 

[Pancake Mix]

RIP Visceral. I loved Dead Space 2.

About the statement regarding the game formerly developed by Visceral...

Our Visceral studio has been developing an action-adventure title set in the Star Wars universe. In its current form, it was shaping up to be a story-based, linear adventure game.

Awesome, I love those.

Throughout the development process, we have been testing the game concept with players, listening to the feedback about what and how they want to play, and closely tracking fundamental shifts in the marketplace.

oh no....... oh no oh no oh no...

It has become clear that to deliver an experience that players will want to come back to and enjoy for a long time to come, we needed to pivot the design. We will maintain the stunning visuals, authenticity in the Star Wars universe, and focus on bringing a Star Wars story to life. Importantly, we are shifting the game to be a broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency, leaning into the capabilities of our Frostbite engine and reimagining central elements of the game to give players a Star Wars adventure of greater depth and breadth to explore.

Right, that's one to scratch off the list. I'm a big fan of Battlefront 2015 and will pick up Battlefront II, but what EA is planning to do with their only other Star Wars title is troubling. How the mighty have fallen.

 

[Aztechnology]

Wait what the fuck

What happens to the Star Wars game

If it isn't another MP shooter, or software as a service title that can have microtransactions and or paid content integral to the design/loop (Destiny, Division etc), it's probably shelved.

 

[big_z]

I can not believe EA is still creating games around focus group feedback. It’s the absolute worst way to design something and a sure fire way to end up with a poor product. It’s bitten them in the ass multiple times, dead space 3, SSX, to name a few and yet they still do it. At best focus groups lead you to make something similar to something else, something boring, mediocre and safe instead of maybe setting a new trend and new experience yourself.

 

[Kephar]

It seems like investors hate any kind of diversification in a company. EA is probably going to retool themselves around one or two cash cows and be done with it.

 

[Dictator93]

I come home and read this

fuck EA

 

[The Jazz Cabbage Master]

Dead Space is still one of my favorite games. God dammit EA you fucking suck.

 

[Arc]

I know this isn't an Anthem thread but EA is fucking insane if they think people will think it's anything other than a Destiny clone and ignore it. The whole game screams late to the party.

Destiny 2 will most likely get a major boxed expansion the next two Septembers. There isn't much of a window for Anthem. The game is just too close in look and feel.

 

[Lightning_Roller]

Once again, the theory of being bought out by EA decreases the life span of a game studio greatly continues to hold water. RIP, Visceral.

 

[IsntChrisL]

A lot of people just lost their jobs. This doesn't just affect a Star Wars game.

I'm not surprised because this is what EA does. Are they about to hit a new fiscal quarter?

 

[SpiceMelange]

I imagine they are the chasing the GAAS destiny model

 

[iamvin22]

I've worked at ears since the ps2 era down to current gen. I knew something was up once a lot of my friends started leaving. This means most likely the qa department is gone as well. Really sucks to hear this

 

[SolidSnakex]

Even though some were turned off by the concept, the campaign in Battlefield Hardline was fantastic. A massive improvement over what DICE has done with the franchise in the mainline games. Visceral did a really fantastic job with that game. It's a shame that it got overlooked.

 

[BanjoLayleeYookaKazooie]

EA really make it easy for people to dislike them don't they? Dead Space was a great game, I felt I had enough by the end of it so I haven't played the other 2 but EA just completely botched any potential the IP and this studio had.

I hope everyone at Visceral can all find a better and more stable job situation soon, good luck!

 

[JeremyEtcetera]

Once again, the theory of being bought out by EA decreases the life span of a game studio greatly continues to hold water. RIP, Visceral.

What surprises me is that developer companies keep buying into partnerships and publisher deals with them, considering how nearly everyone who is aware of how EA does business knows of this pattern. I'm guessing if someone is in charge of a development company and want a quick buck to eventually cash out in the future, EA is the way to go for them. They'd still be screwing over multiple employees but what do they care at this point, they're rich right?

 

[CHC]

I can not believe EA is still creating games around focus group feedback. It's the absolute worst way to design something and a sure fire way to end up with a poor product. It's bitten them in the ass multiple times, dead space 3, SSX, to name a few and yet they still do it. At best focus groups lead you to make something similar to something else, something boring, mediocre and safe instead of maybe setting a new trend and new experience yourself.

Maybe it's why all their games are pieces of shit right now.

Seriously, aside from maybe Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1, EA has literally not produced any decent (let alone great or influential games) in like 6 fucking years....

 

[Datschge]

You can't put them in the same group as Westwood or Bullfrog or Criterion or whoever, who were bought out by EA before they got shut down later on.

This studio worked out of EA's corporate headquarters.

So EA the publisher essentially killed its own developer origins. That's kinda poetic.

 

[iavi]

They will be missed.

Dead Space was an amazing series

Dante’s Inferno wasn’t bad either