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Games Entertainment

Electronic Arts Purchases BioWare, Pandemic 232

Posted by Zonk from the depths-of-horror dept.
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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Electronic Arts Purchases BioWare, Pandemic More

Electronic Arts Purchases BioWare, Pandemic

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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:2, Insightful)

        by Loadmaster ( 720754 )
        Probably. Bioware can probably keep some distance from the EA crapmachine, but Pandemic is about to go the way of Digital Illusions (Battlefied 1942 developer).

    • 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.
      • It has been known that the intent of the designers was to have several Mass Effect titles. That's not new.

      • 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

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

          by Oliver Wendell Jones ( 158103 ) on Thursday October 11, 2007 @04:30PM (#20946211)
          Now, they're a shambling zombie force that sucks the life out of anything they touch, and causes their newly assimilated zombie-children to spew foul darkness onto the marketplace.

          I tend to think of EA more like "The Borg" - they are out to assimilate every other game company, suck the individuality out of them and turn them into themselves - lifeless automatons.

        • Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:4, Informative)

          by Jiles ( 537514 ) <jiles_79 @ h o tmail.com> on Thursday October 11, 2007 @07:33PM (#20948113)
          Bioware didn't develop KOTOR2. Knights of the Old Republic 2 was Obsidian's doing.

        • 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 zombie-children to spew foul darkness onto the marketplace.

          If you treat your staff like slaves [livejournal.com], that's what you get.

          I haven't bought an EA game in years, but I've very much enjoyed several Bioware ones. I fear those days are over.

        • Mass Effect is already a confirmed trilogy (first sentence [wikipedia.org]) so it was planned to milked/fleshed out from the start (don't get me wrong, I'm frothing for Mass Effect). And I also enjoyed Jade Empire so I wouldn't mind another game or two set in feudal China or the area.

          I think this could be good if EA kept their hands out too much and instead was able to provide them with better tools and developers. Bioware hasn't released a game since Jade Empire in 2005 and honestly I think they produce great stuff, wou

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

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 11, 2007 @04:18PM (#20946001)
      Fuck

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Irish_Samurai ( 224931 )
        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>
  • My prediction: it'll be kinda like "Brainwashed"-- George Harrison's posthumously released album, great work, sad knowing that nothing more will be forthcoming. Farewell Jade Empire & Mass Effect sequels, you're going the way of NFL Gameday or Mythic. Ah well.

    • They will produce the sequels. You will buy them, compulsively, because you remembered the original title so fondly. It will be similar to the original, and you will ask yourself, "why aren't they making innovative games?" Game companies that make innovative games will go out of business, or get gobbled up by EA. Who will produce the sequels...

  • Game over! (Score:5, Funny)

    by decipher_saint ( 72686 ) on Thursday October 11, 2007 @04:11PM (#20945895)
    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.
        • Hey, Bethesda can afford to hire Patrick Stewart for voiceovers. I don't think they'll be caving to EA anytime soon.
          • No offense to Patrick Stewart, I love the guy, but he is willing to lend his voice to almost anything. He's in American Dad, for example. He did the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He did Bambi II. He did Demon Stone, which was actually pretty good now that I think about it...

          • "Bethesda can afford to hire Patrick Stewart for voiceovers. I don't think they'll be caving to EA"

            NOT a good example. Westwood studios made lands of lore where patrick stewart did voice work as king richard. Guess who bought and killed westwood?

            • Bah. I thought hiring him would be expensive enough that having the money to bring him in would mean that EA hasn't a hope in hell.

              Still, Bethesda seems to be large enough to stand up to EA. Hell, Bethesda once sued EA.

              • 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."
      • As he is obviously joking.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by FishWithAHammer ( 957772 )
        Bethesda sucks. Morrowind was boring, Oblivion was unplayably dull and lifeless, and Fallout 3 shows all the hallmarks of Not Being A God Damn Fallout Game.
      • Bethesda hasn't made a real RPG since Daggerfall. Oblivion is about as
        exciting as an Nvidia tech demo. Bethesda makes Action RPGs, or more specifically, offline, single player MMORPGs. To be fair, their game philosophy hasn't really changed since Arena (their best game BTW). They had the idea of open ended sand box games way before MMORPGs came around. Although there were MUDs back then I guess. They do lie a lot however pre-release. They have about as much credibility as Lionhead.

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

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        What part of "high quality" do you not understand?

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

    by vorpal22 ( 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.
    • Ultima? Hell, anybody remember all of Origin?

      They gave us Ultima, Wing Commander, Crusader and System Shock. Then came Ultima Online and EA canned anything that wasn't a MMO game, then they started a Privateer Online canned that, and simply let UO fizzle out.

      RIP Origin, Bioware you're next. =/

    • Hate to be pedantic, but I must say that I thought C&C III, which came about after EA's dismantling of Westwood, was a fantastic game, and the closest thing to a hardcore RTS I've seen in years. In addition, that was the catalyst to finally get the C&C franchise back on the Mac. Maybe it's nostalgia from seeing Kane, or all the genre actors hamming it up, but I thought it played brilliantly and nailed the tone of the originals.

      That said, I thought Generals was crap... but my take is that it was more

      • Hate to be pedantic, but I must say that I thought C&C III, which came about after EA's dismantling of Westwood, was a fantastic game, and the closest thing to a hardcore RTS I've seen in years

        A broken clock is right twice a day.

        I'm now wondering what happens to Obsidian, who generally produces all of Bio's sequels?

        I'm wondering the same thing... though I'm not a huge fan of Obsidian who generally produce an inferior product to the original

        • though I'm not a huge fan of Obsidian who generally produce an inferior product to the original

          Actually the devs at Obsidian are the remains of Black Isle Studios, the RPG subdivision of Interplay that was responsible for Planescape:Torment, Fallout 1/2, Icewind Dale and assisted with Bioware's Baldurs Gate 1/2. KOTOR2 is not at all representative of their best work. It was their first project as a small startup company. They had to take whatever they could get. Unfortunately it looks like they are still i

          • It might be the same people, but the ultimate output of Obsidian isn't up to the same standards as Black Isle - KOTOR 2 & NWN 2 were released as buggy messes.

  • 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: (Score:2)

        by Jaqenn ( 996058 )

        ...you won't find the Maxis name on anything anymore.
        Does Spore count?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by crossmr ( 957846 )
          its a mystery why the logo is still on that site when its been sanitized from everything The Sims (maybe that has something to do with it). EA is possibly hoping to cash in on the name one last time. You can bet if Spore doesn't turn in to the instant geek orgasm they're expecting, you'll never see the name again.
        • Does the name Will Wright mean anything to you?
      • I mean, they're cranking out The Sims expansions like clockwork.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by crossmr ( 957846 )
          Yes, but that doesn't mean they're doing a good job of managing it. The bugs have been ridiculous, the community is a mess, and they make one boneheaded decision after another with them.

    • 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.

    • As much as I hate EA, C&C3 is actually not so bad, and Kane is back!

      But among the newer games (i.e. not counting classics like Fallout and Planescape: Torment), the game I love the most is Neverwinter Nights 2. And I feel EA is going to ruin the Neverwinter Nights series.

      • I wish I could play the new CnC but unfortunately it doesnt work out of the box on win2k. Westwood wouldn't try so hard to offend people by pulling shit like that. I can only assume its like generals was and steer VERY far clear of it.

    • "If Maxis were still around, I doubt we'd be seeing this." Uh Maxis is still around. They're making that hugely hyped and anticipated game know as Spore, remember. "Then there's the Westwood." Funny how you don't mention C&C3, which Gamespot called "Command & Conquer at its best" and that IGN said "This time around it's more polished and presented in its most beautiful package to date." It's easy to bash a game company when you only focus on the bad games it makes. Look I can do it too: Remembe
    • SimEarth, SimAnt, SimLife, SimTower, SimHealth, SimIsle, SimFarm, SimGolf, SimCopter, SimTown, SimPark, SimSafari, SimTunes, SimRefinery, Theme Park Inc, Theme Park World.

      Yep, EA definately made Maxis push out mediocre sim based games.... Oh, wait all of these were released, or at least started pre EA purchase.

      • Maybe you didn't read the part about how I was only discussing SimCity? And even if you think those games are crap, they at least ran smoothly on my systems. When EA makes a game, it needs 2GB of RAM and 30 seconds of splash videos too.

  • 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

    • EA's RPG "Big" line is going to revolutionize the genre. Their first title will be "Kazaam v. the Bald Gate: Super 1 on 1", featuring Shaq and his holiness the Pope... digitized for the first time using "inquisi-vision" Fight along side the Pope and Shaq as they do basketball battle with the forces of the Bald Gate and their legion of undead Laker fans.

      We have SO much to look forward to. :)

      God, I hate EA. They used to be fine... then they started eating companies and killing innovation.

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday October 11, 2007 @04:53PM (#20946473)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Consider that Bungie (another innovative studio popular among gamers) was absorbed by Microsoft back before Halo 1, but just recently (Oct 1) took back its independence. And despite producing 3 of M$'s biggest cash cows, they still seem to have their humor and character intact. Here's hoping BioWare can do the same.
    • Bungie and the Microsoft Games Division story is the exception rather than the rule. Bungie essentially "earned" its own freedom with the runaway success of Halo 1, 2 and 3. Love it or hate it, the Halo series MADE the Xbox/Xbox 360 and Microsoft never forgot that. Throw in the fact that the Microsoft Games Division is practically independent thanks to its overall successes and profits (the Microsoft Flight Simulation games, the Age of games, Rise of games, etc) and Microsoft is pretty much content to let t
  • My Mercenaries! My beloved Mercenaries! NOOOOOO!

    • 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...
  • Mass Effect renamed to EA Presents John Madden's Mass Effect: 2008

    Seriously this new sucks, every time EA buys something out to grab some IP they screw it up. I remember when they bought Westwood, the creators of the Command and Conquer series. What did we get out of that; RA2, Renegade...Generals (ok CNC3 is pretty good). I was looking forward to Mass Effect, but I've been boycotting EA for years now, and I don't think I'll be picking it up because of this. Mass Effect was the reason I was going to fina
    • I had Madden Football one and two for the apple ][. Compared to contemporary games, they were great. Recently I was given, as gifts, modern versions (I think 1998 and 2004) and they had less functionality. Twenty years of development, and now I have virtually no control over my offensive line. I can't roll the pocket. I can't design my own trap or counter play. And my recollection is that I can design one custom pass route per play.

      Further, I can't get updated player rosters - except from EA, and exce

  • 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
    • THQ isn't known as a company that buys and then destroys the companies that make great products, EA is. Everything that EA touches turns to shit over time.

      We see less and less inspiration from the remains of Maxis(is The Sims 2 really showing anything even close to inspiration, or is it an improved The Sims with natural updates?). Spore may be good, but it remains to be seen if it will be, or if EA will force it to be released with tons of bugs because of delays.

      So, I mourn the slow death of Bioware.
  • Anyone else remember Air Warrior?
  • "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." I really hope that they don't destroy the NWN and D & D games, but they probably will. :[
  • I don't live that far from Bioware Edmonton, and I was wondering why I faintly heard screaming and sobbing today.
    Seriously, Bioware prides itself on being a tight, self-sufficient, family office that makes great games. There was enough worry during the Pandemic merger that such qualities might be lost... they seemed to have come through fairly unscathed... and no the behemoth that is EA is going to come play in the sandbox?
    The bad news is that I sense a lot of soon-to-be-unhappy people at Bioware.
    The good n

  • 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.

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