Those hoping that BioWare could recuperate after the company’s last couple of games landed with a thud may not want to hear today’s news. On BioWare’s Blog, General Manager Gary McKay announced that the company is undergoing a change that will see around 50 roles being canned.
McKay stated that BioWare could only succeed if “we must shift towards a more agile and more focused studio. It will allow our developers to iterate quickly, unlock more creativity, and form a clear vision of what we’re building before development ramps up.”
Apparently, the changes required mean several roles are being made obsolete. Which roles? That’s unknown.
The GM implies that this move is preemptive, possibly alluding to BioWare’s future projects or the company as a whole may be in trouble:
“We’ve chosen to act now in part to provide our impacted colleagues with as many internal opportunities as possible. These changes coincide with a significant number of roles that are currently open across EA’s other studios. Impacted employees will be provided with professional resources and assistance as they apply for these positions.”
Those finding themselves being handed pink slips may still find employment elsewhere in EA, but it’s not a guarantee. Considering the quality of BioWare’s past few games has been a major issue, this isn’t filling me with hope that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf won’t be negatively affected.
“Our commitment to quality continues to be our North Star,” says McKay. Those are hard words to live by when one of BioWare’s games launched so many unintentional memes. The last time I covered a post from the General Manager, he failed to bring up the issues that were bringing the company down.
The past decade has not been kind to BioWare. We all started worrying in ’07 when EA bought out the studio behind Knights of the Old Republic and the mostly great Mass Effect Trilogy. Quality issues began appearing in the third ME title, and then there was the Andromeda fiasco and the colossal bait-n-switch known as Anthem.
EA’s habit of infecting studios under its umbrella with a terminal disease may be slow working, but BioWare has been showing symptoms for some time. What was the last great BioWare title you remember? Was it made before 2012? Were sequels to the studio’s best games infested with terrible DLC and multiplayer? The hallmarks of EA’s sickness were there for a long time.
[Source: BioWare Blog]
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