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Electronic Arts Purchases BioWare, Pandemic

Posted by Zonk on Thu Oct 11, 2007 03:55 PM
from the depths-of-horror dept.
Entertainment Games
Kotaku is reporting that EA has purchased BioWare and Pandemic Studios, having offered some $620 million in cash to the Elevation Partners group to buy up VG Holding Corp. From the press release: "'We are truly excited by John Riccitiello's new vision for EA,' said Ray Muzyka, Co-founder and CEO of BioWare Corp. 'This vision is consistent with BioWare's focus on crafting the highest quality story-driven games in the world. It will enable us to further the careers of the passionate, creative and hard working teams at BioWare Edmonton and BioWare Austin.'"
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[+] Fallout From the BioWare/Pandemic Buyout 89 comments
Yesterday's announcement of EA's purchase of BioWare and Pandemic took a lot of people by surprise. Today, there's some more information, reactions, and assurances from the people involved in the move. First and foremost: Mass Effect should not be affected by this purchase. The future of the series is still up in the air, but the game we've all be waiting for is still slated for a November 20th release exclusive to the Xbox 360. EA held a conference call about the buyout soon after it was announced, and answers a number of questions about specifics. FiringSquad has a feature on the reaction from the developers, and that piece has some assurances that EA's CEO John Riccitiello has the best interests of the new acquisitions at heart. Gamasutra has a Q&A with Pandemic's management team, which wants to point out that Pandemic/BioWare and their parent company drove this deal forward; this was not a hostile acquisition. Likewise Gamespot has a chat with the BioWare co-founders, who are equally excited about the deal. This may have been surprising, but if the two companies were onboard with this move it can hardly be dire, right?
[+] Game Studio Flight From Microsoft A Sign of Troubles? 122 comments
Newsweek's LevelUp blog continues to produce some highly interesting material. Today they have up a look at the 'flight' of game studios from Microsoft's corporate umbrella. BioWare's purchase by EA distances it a bit from their cosy relationship with Microsoft, as does Bizarre's purchase by Activision. Bungie's departure from the company itself goes without saying. So what does all this mean? Is this a sign of troubles in Redmond, or just more fallout from the huge undertaking required to get the Xbox 360 to the position it has today? "For us, the flight of the Killer B's is a clear indication that Microsoft as a whole is still shell shocked not only by the massive losses in the Xbox division, but also more importantly by the poor showing of Rare, which has to rank as not only one of the Microsoft's least successful purchases, but as quite possibly the worst acquisition in the history of gaming. Microsoft paid $375 million in cash for Rare, and based on the modest revenues from its ensuing titles--a Conker's Bad Fur Day remake, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero and Viva Pinata--all they've got to show for it is that proverbial lousy T-shirt, completely stained with red ink."
[+] Pondering EA's Move Towards Hardcore 51 comments
The site GigaOM is picking up its games coverage again, and kicks off with an article speculating on just what EA was thinking when it purchased BioWare and Pandemic. On the face of it, the move doesn't make much sense. BioWare is a great development house, but from EA's perspective their games are 'small potatoes'. "So why did they spend so much? The acquisition includes several titles for the Wii and DS already in development, and those may have breakout potential. There's tremendous gamer buzz around BioWare's upcoming RPG Mass Effect, but in all likelihood, it'll do similar numbers to the studio's million-plus-selling Knights of the Old Republic -- a hit, but not a huge one. There are rumors that BioWare is developing a 'Star Wars'-themed MMO, but if that's what inspired the purchase, the mystery only deepens: Sony Online's (SNE) MMO Star Wars Galaxies was a disappointment in relation to cost and anticipation, and that was released at the height of the buzz over a movie franchise that's since become old news."
[+] EA/BioWare Deal Finalized, Nets EA Ten Franchises 79 comments
Gamasutra notes that the announced deal, where Electronic Arts was to purchase BioWare/Pandemic, has now been formalized. This arrangement will fold ten new franchises into the EA family, from the just-released Mass Effect all the way back to BioWare's classic titles. "EA Games president Frank Gibeau will oversee both studios within his organization, and BioWare's Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have each been named as vice presidents of EA and co-general managers of BioWare. Similarly, Pandemic's Andrew Goldman and Josh Resnick have each been named vice presidents of EA and co-general managers of Pandemic, while Greg Borrud has been named vice president of EA and chief production officer of Pandemic Studios. "
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  • Let me be the first to say... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bigstrat2003 (1058574) on Thursday October 11 2007, @03:57PM (#20945699)
    Shit. This ain't good.

    (Pardon me for being cynical, but I can't help but be afraid that a company like EA, known for mediocrity, is going to drag down Bioware, known for excellence)

    • Let's hope that Bioware, like Maxis/Will Wright, can fight hard to get free reign. Pandemic, on the other hand, will just slowly fold in on itself as it become just another EA company.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by the dark hero (971268)
      Yea, I'm not sure what all this is supposed to mean. Are we gonna get a ton of sequels (KotOR 3? Jade Empire2?) or is EA gonna leave them alone and just give them bags of munny hoping they can make great games they can bank off of? The Wikipedia page [wikipedia.org] already shows Mass Effect 2 and 3 are in developement.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by rhombic (140326)
        Oh yeah, KotOR already moved away from bioware, KotOR2 was one of the most disappointing games I've ever played. But there will definitly be a Jade Empire sequel now, along with ME2 and ME3. Probably JE3, JE4, & JE2010. ME4,5,6,7,8. And they will all, individually & collectively suck. I remember from my teenage years how EA used to be a name you could rely on for a fun game. Now, they're a shambling zombie force that sucks the life out of anything they touch, and causes their newly assimilated zombi

    • This sums things up nicely: (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:18PM (#20946001)
      Fuck
      • NO shit. Actually, the first thing I said when I read the headline was:

        "Fuck, Fuck, FUCK! NOOOOO! God damn it! First the NFL license then this shit."

    • Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by JonTurner (178845) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:22PM (#20946073) Journal
      Agreed, it may be a money-maker, but it's not good for those who love great games and look forward to more being created in the future. Can anyone here name just one company that got better in terms of product quality and service AFTER a merger? I certainly cannot, and am not aware of any.

      So, to summarize this business deal: EA= Big Daddies, Bioware = Little Sisters, and if history is any guide to how EA treats their people, bioware's programmers/artists = corpses being robbed of their mana. And where do the customers factor in? We're the fellow passengers on the airplane that crashed during the Bioshock opening scene -- literary filler which exists only because it can't be logically avoided.

  • It will enable us to further the careers of the passionate, creative and hard working teams at BioWare Edmonton and BioWare Austin.'"

    Yes. When they consolidate there will be several people passionate about eating and paying their bills who will be looking afield to continue their careers.

  • Anybody at Bioware-Austin (Score:5, Funny)

    by the_skywise (189793) on Thursday October 11 2007, @03:59PM (#20945721)
    Still have your Resistance is Futile shirt? :D
  • swger, kotor player, bioware admirer. im not pleased. and im feeling less positive towards ea as of now.

  • EA Games... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:06PM (#20945829)
    <whisper>

    Purchase Everything

    </whisper>

  • Game over! (Score:5, Funny)

    by decipher_saint (72686) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:11PM (#20945895) Homepage
    Game over man, GAME OVER!

  • It's not the first of april (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eddy (18759) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:13PM (#20945913) Homepage Journal
    And this joke isn't funny even if it were.

  • Carry The Torch? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Reapy (688651) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:23PM (#20946089)
    Who is going to pick up carrying the torch for delivering high quality RPG games?

    RIP Bioware...

    Reapy

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Cheapy (809643)
      Bethesda has been carrying it for quite a while now.

      • Re:Carry The Torch? (Score:5, Funny)

        by ObiWanStevobi (1030352) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:43PM (#20946355) Journal
        Shut up you fool! EA is listening.

              • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

                by Cecil (37810)
                Bioware was a lot bigger than Bethesda, and they just got bought. In fact I would consider Bioware to be probably the biggest 'independent' developer around. So I don't think Bethesda is immune. To quote Futurama, "Maybe you don't understand just how rich he is. In fact, I think I'd better put on a monocle."

    • Who is going to pick up carrying the torch for delivering high quality RPG games?
      How about... Mistwalker? Square Enix? Namco Bandai? Sega? Nintendo?

  • Terrible news... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by vorpal^ (114901) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:24PM (#20946115) Homepage Journal
    I, for one, have never seen anything *good* come of an EA acquisition. Anyone remember the Ultima games? EA bought Origin Systems, and the series promptly went from the brilliance of Ultimas III through VII Part 2 to the flops and incredible series ending disappointments that were Ultima VIII and IX. Both were buggy, lacking in plot, and virtually unplayable. It was terrible to have such a wonderful, complex continuing story terminate with a muffled whimper.

  • There's hope for Bioware (Score:4, Interesting)

    by nuzak (959558) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:29PM (#20946179) Journal
    EA gives Maxis quite a bit of free rein, and they're loath to kill off that golden goose. I should hope Bioware gets the same treatment.

    Pandemic on the other hand is basically borg-fodder.

    • Re:There's hope for Bioware (Score:4, Informative)

      by crossmr (957846) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:42PM (#20946335) Journal
      EA is doing everything they can to kill of The Sims. They've absorbed Maxis entirely at this point, you won't find the Maxis name on anything anymore. They recently just changed from Safedisc to securom on the series which has caused uncountable problems, and to sweeten it they've got a moderator on a rampage banning and screaming at anyone who dares defile the securom name, or even claim they're having a problem because of it. That despite the fact that they set up a forum specifically to talk about securom.

    • Re:There's hope for Bioware (Score:4, Insightful)

      by vonPoonBurGer (680105) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:52PM (#20946463)
      No, EA gives *Will Wright* a lot of free reign, because he's Will fscking Wright, and you can bet he'd be able to jump ship and land on his feet somewhere else if EA ever held him back. As for the rest of Maxis, they've been swallowed up by the EA hive collective, and are now drones in charge of cranking ever more irrelevant sequels, ports and expansion packs to The Sims.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by RichPowers (998637)
      Maxis no longer exists. The studio was folded into EA years ago. Look no further than SimCity Societies to see how far the SimCity series has fallen. The Sims, revolutionary way back when, is a pathetic cash cow at this point.

  • EA: We Ruin Games (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RichPowers (998637) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:41PM (#20946323)
    Some of EA's finer moments:

    Imagine SimCity, only take out the simulation elements, dumb it down, give it a lame 3d engine, and hire the mediocre studio behind the failure that is Caesar IV to design it. That's exactly what EA is doing with SimCity Societies. One of the most venerable PC game series of all time is reduced to the uninspired, inoffensive, mildly-likable crap that EA specializes in. If Maxis were still around, I doubt we'd be seeing this.

    Then there's the Westwood. EA dissolved the studio and released C&C: Generals. It had no live action cut scenes, no creative and silly weapons, and no enigmatic bald men bent on world domination. It was a generic RTS featuring the USA, China, and some Arab quasi-nationstate fighting across desert landscapes dotted with mosques - the same setting used by every Clancy knockoff.

    (Just because you build a city doesn't make it SimCity. Likewise, just because you command a modern army doesn't make it C&C.)

    And let's not forget the Battlefield series. DICE revolutionized online FPS gaming with BF1942. To this day, it's still one of my favorite games. Battlefield 2, however, is a system hog that could teach Vista a thing or two. Post-release support is abysmal and the game is still riddled with bugs. BF2142 is for all purposes a half-assed futuristic mod based on the same crummy BF2 engine...and it features in-game ads.

    I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I've been playing PC games ever since SimCity 2000 in 1993 and have witnessed EA steadily bastardize so many PC games I know and love. They make boatloads of cash from their exploitation games (Madden, The Sims) and then buy out respectable studios. Am I cynical for thinking that BioWare and Pandemic will go to shit? Based on my experience with EA, it's only a matter of time.

    • Re:EA: We Ruin Games (Score:4, Insightful)

      by jollyreaper (513215) on Thursday October 11 2007, @05:02PM (#20946611)

      I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I've been playing PC games ever since SimCity 2000 in 1993 and have witnessed EA steadily bastardize so many PC games I know and love. They make boatloads of cash from their exploitation games (Madden, The Sims) and then buy out respectable studios. Am I cynical for thinking that BioWare and Pandemic will go to shit? Based on my experience with EA, it's only a matter of time.
      I think that their success in part parallels the rise of the non-geek gamer. I have NEVER owned a football game for any system I've owned. I think the last one I even rented was for the Sega Master System since I was trying to find a game my stepdad might be interested in. I'm sure a lot of geek gamers feel the same way. Well, it doesn't matter: sports games are huge sellers. Someone is buying them. When geeks were all about Doom, Myst was by far the top-seller of all time. Some geeks like it and many disliked it. The important part was that a whole lot of non-geeks really liked it. Barbie and Monopoly games sell more than traditional geek games.

      With gaming going so mainstream, there are a lot of people now who accessorize with games rather than geek out over them. Consider the breakdown between music geeks and mainstream -- music geeks will get all into their favorite band, go obsessive over it, and geek out -- non-geeks who don't really care will just buy what their friends listen to so they can fit in. As far as the industry is concerned, a happy geek pays just as much for a CD as a mallrat so they're pleased.

      The point I'm getting at, there are people who buy the latest football games because that's what their friends play. There are also people who just get whatever the flavor of the month game is popular and only play it superficially. Then they sell it back to the store and move on. Also, don't discount the parent factor. Here's a Harry Potter game, I'm getting it for the kid. Do I care what the reviews say about it? It's Harry fucking Potter, maybe this will shut the brat up.

      Back in the day, it was marginally harder to push out a crappy game because the market was smaller and a lot geekier and thus harder to satisfy. With gaming going more mainstream, the acceptable quality threshold is lower. The same thing goes for movies. I tend to be picky as hell and bag on most of them. Most people I see them with tend to be happy so long as the film doesn't break. "There were lots of lights and fast, shiny objects. I enjoyed myself." My dissatisfied ticket made the studio just as much money as the other guy's genially uninformed ticket. Studio 1, Me 0.

      My only hope is that the talent within the company accepted the buy-out offer with the intent of jumping ship to form a new development studio and continue to make good games. Cuz God knows, Bioware is already history.

  • This is GREAT news! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Huntr (951770) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:49PM (#20946407)
    Baldur's Gate would have been a much better game if it had more basketball and football in it.

    • Unfortunately, while their plans for Baldur's Gate IV: You Are Not A God include using edgy 3D character models instead of carefully animated sprites, replacing all the NPC interactions with shrugs and "huh" noises (and some bad chat-up lines between Minsc and Aerie if you know how to find the easter egg), cutting out the spell effects with complex graphics and having a guy just pull out a gun and shoot the bad guy first instead, scrapping the D&D-based game mechanics in favour of "highest level always

  • Good for them. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by CHK6 (583097) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:53PM (#20946473)
    Sometimes you have to sell out and slaughter that cash cow you fed and grew for years. Now it's time to enjoy the proceeds of the efforts. I hope all the principle developers get a great cut and cash out.

    Now for us gamers..... crap! Well if you are going to go out with a bang, then I guess Mass Effect is a great place to end it on.

  • What does HK-47 say? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 11 2007, @07:01PM (#20947889)
    Statement: Master, would you like to make a trip to EA headquarters? Clarification: For research purposes of course. Unrelated Query: Have you seen my blaster rifle?

  • Yeah, this sucks (Score:3, Insightful)

    by adona1 (1078711) on Thursday October 11 2007, @07:27PM (#20948057)
    I really liked playing Star Wars: Battlefront I & II and Destroy All Humans! I & II, and this news is like a poke in the eye. I can't recall an EA game that I enjoyed playing since...oh...Nightfire, which was released 5 years ago now. In fact, I thought that all EA released now was Sims expansion packs and sport games. I also dislike the way they're reputed to treat their employees [wikipedia.org].

    At the end of the day, it's the way of business....the small ones either grow or get consumed by a larger company. With the cost of developing games getting so high, there's not too much that can happen with that. Unfortunately, that means that game studios start resembling movie studios - with huge $$ being invested, they're less likely to go with something original and more likely to develop sequels or copies. The smaller companies may release interesting games, but they're not as likely to be a success [wikipedia.org]. A shame.

  • I wonder if Bioware will stay as its own Studio. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by LordZardoz (155141) on Thursday October 11 2007, @07:35PM (#20948133)
    If Bioware stays as its own studio, and EA just acts as their backer, that may not be such a bad thing. Relic is owned by THQ, but as far as I know, they are still an independant entity. This could then just mean that Bioware ends up getting more reliable funding, and ends up churning out games in a more regular fashion. In addition, Bioware is not exactly known for extravagant salaries, so this may end up getting a bunch of them better pay. On top of that the Austin studio will get much better backing for the MMO.

    If EA intends to get heavily involved in Bioware's day to day operations, than Bioware as an independant studio may not exist for too much longer. EA already has studio's in Vancouver and Montreal, and do not really need extra floor space. If that happens, I expect that alot of Bioware's core employees will just quit and form a new studio. Many of them have lived in Edmonton a long time and probably have some pretty deep roots in the community. Plenty may want to leave for milder weather in Vancouver though.

    What will be really interesting is to see what Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk end up doing. If they stay with their Studio in Edmonton and stay in control of day to day operations, things should be fine. If they take their money and run, well they earned it.

    END COMMUNICATION

  • D&D games (Score:3, Informative)

    by Rhone (220519) on Thursday October 11 2007, @11:14PM (#20949613) Homepage
    A few people have mentioned D&D games... Bioware is not making D&D games anymore. NWN 2 (like KOTOR 2) was designed by Obsidian, not Bioware. Bioware seems to have gotten frustrated with the limitations of using others' IP, which is why they are using their own IP for the games they are working on now, like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Dragon Age--not some future D&D game--is their spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and NWN.

  • Unskippable (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Lurks (526137) on Friday October 12 2007, @03:18AM (#20950545) Homepage
    Now I think we can look forward to the next Bioware games having unskippable corporate spinning logos for 5 minutes before the game starts up. Yay.
    • Well, they seem to be shaking things up a bit over there and getting away from the "Mega-conglomerate" mode of thinking, and letting smaller teams work on their own. Hopefully they'll continue down that road and do the smart thing. That being, "leave Bioshock the fuck alone to do their, only now with more money!"
    • Hopefully Will Wright and the Sims will have taught EA that, sometimes, you just need to STFU and let groups with an awesome track record continue what they're doing. If Bioware gets gimped because of EA, slashdot should start a boycott of EA products. Seriously, if the Slashdot crowd led the way, others might follow and put just enough pressure on EA to get them to stick to their sports games while real companies innovate and expand the gaming market.
        • The Sims came out after the buyout by EA [wikipedia.org] and the expansion packs were all done by other teams inside of Maxis courtesy of EA (sorry, no reference). If you think about it, the base games show the same style as earlier maxis games while the expansions stink of EA's sequel/expansion-style franchise milking.

    • Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by j00r0m4nc3r (959816) on Thursday October 11 2007, @04:24PM (#20946093)
      Good games make their bad games look worse.

    • No (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Xest (935314)
      Because whilst there are good games companies out there, there are games companies producing better games than EA can.

      If EA can destroy everything better than it, then the standard is lower and EA games become the most attractive thing out there.

    • Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by servognome (738846) on Thursday October 11 2007, @08:56PM (#20948755)

      Can't EA stop destroying good games and companies?
      Can good game companies stop selling out?
      It's just like asking musicians to stop selling out to the RIAA, at the end of the day most of us will go for the money.

      • Re:No. No No No No No. (Score:5, Informative)

        by great throwdini (118430) on Thursday October 11 2007, @05:17PM (#20946791)

        EA never made good games. They purchased companies that did, and the quality improved for a year or two until their creativity burned out too.

        Back in 80s, EA attracted a number of top game developers and was (to many) synonymous with interesting, solid gameplay. MULE and Archon are two clear standouts published by EA, but a complete list of hits both big and small from "back in the days" is pretty lengthy (Bard's Tale, Mail Order Monsters, the various Construction Set games, Starflight, Seven Cities of Gold, etc.)

        EA itself may not have "made" these games, but its distribution strategy and relationship with developers back then did a lot to get good games in the hands of eager players.

    • I had a Star Wars reference too:

      As the truth begins to emerge...
      Bioware: "That wasn't part of the deal! You said you would leave us alone!"

      EA: "I am altering the terms of our agreement. Pray I don't alter them any further!"

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Shados (741919)
      I'm not amazingly informed on the matter, but Electronic Art is also a publisher, is it not? In that case, Bioware would be rid of Atari from this point and on (not counting their older, Atari-exclusive franchises). That can only mean good things. As bad as EA is, Atari was worse.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by badboy_tw2002 (524611)
      EA was already the publisher for Mercs 2 even before the aquisition. You think Lucas is a better publisher? Don't get me started...

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