EA swallows up Bioware

Saxon1974 · Post by **Saxon1974** » October 13th, 2007, 4:33 pm

Grue wrote:
Dhruin wrote:BioWare's Patrick Weekes has repeatedly said they won't starting promoting DA until Mass Effect is out the door, so the silence is expected at this point.
This is kinda strange, IMO, as the two games are to be released on different platforms (Mass Effect on X360 and Dragon Age on PC) and so would not be directly competing with each other. This strategy has not done DA any good. I've considered DA to be vaporware for almost a year now, all because of the "news blackout." Not that I expect to see something new every week, but I cannot even remember when I saw or heard something new about DA since, what, 2005.

Regarding the GameSpot interview, I found it more than a bit worrisome. It left a nasty aftertaste of corporate-speak and money-grabbing. At least to me.

Quoting a part of it:

GameSpot: Going from the worlds' biggest independent developer to part of the world's biggest publisher? People are kind of taken aback. What's your reaction to that?

Ray Myzuka: Well, I'm really excited about the opportunity to integrate the great development teams we have here, the marketing teams we have here. As you said, EA is the largest, and I think, the best publisher in the world, and I think we can [add] some value to that team, and that organization as a partnership.

GS: Right, but you guys were always an icon of independent development, and were even more so after the deal with Pandemic...

Greg Zeschuk: Well, to be blunt, I don't really see ourselves as not being independent anymore. We've got a goal of making great BioWare games, and we believe in [EA CEO] John [Riccitiello]'s vision--we can't overemphasize that. We've worked with John for years, and we're looking forward to keep doing what we're doing and doing it well.

(End Quote)

Oh well, Rest in Pieces BioWare.

I can't believe this move is anything other than money. More money for marketing and PR so there games will sell more. It does mean the games won't be as good and will be dumbed down and rushed and ported to consoles. But anyway, it happened to not much point in following Bioware anymore.

Dhruin · Post by **Dhruin** » October 14th, 2007, 7:06 am

Grue wrote:This is kinda strange, IMO, as the two games are to be released on different platforms (Mass Effect on X360 and Dragon Age on PC) and so would not be directly competing with each other. This strategy has not done DA any good. I've considered DA to be vaporware for almost a year now, all because of the "news blackout." Not that I expect to see something new every week, but I cannot even remember when I saw or heard something new about DA since, what, 2005.

Sure. BioWare's perspective is there is now a large group of BioWare fans who follow their games regardless of platform, so they see crossover where you don't.

I think the main thing is that Dragon Age was announced early to appease PC fans (in the face of BioWare's increasing console development) and didn't have a publisher announced. I can understand what you are saying but a different developer might simply have not announced it yet, in which case other fans would be accusing BioWare of abandoning PC development (which they did, anyway).

In hindsight, I think they might have done it differently but they've been pretty clear all along DA was still in development, albeit slower than they originally expected.

Fleisch · Post by **Fleisch** » October 14th, 2007, 10:42 am

I think the main thing is that Dragon Age was announced early to appease PC fans (in the face of BioWare's increasing console development) and didn't have a publisher announced. I can understand what you are saying but a different developer might simply have not announced it yet, in which case other fans would be accusing BioWare of abandoning PC development (which they did, anyway).

This makes sense (that DA was just a neglected stepchild of an increasingly console-oriented firm, occasionally trotted out to placate the PC folks), and the cross-platform console thing also contributes to Bioware being a desirable acquisition for EA. I'll be interested to see whether Dragon Age gets consolized too, or if it's far enough along to remain an actual PC title in the Baldur's Gate real-time-with-pause mode.

Rune_74 · Post by **Rune_74** » October 14th, 2007, 1:49 pm

Actually a few months ago there were a couple of dragon age pics...I would have to do a search....man you are making me work here...

http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=2019479&sec=IMAGES

PaSquall · Post by **PaSquall** » October 14th, 2007, 4:21 pm

Dhruin wrote: Oh -and BioWare wasn't interested in NWN2, so I think their interest in NWN3 is long gone.

What I meant is that a new studio will develop NWN3. Who will it be ?
In any case it will be a new NWN, with new engine and gameplay (it will be powered by D&D 4th edition rules), and not a follow-up of NWN2. Interesting...