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Bioware is laying off part of the development team

Draugoth

Gold Member
BIOWARE.jpg

Bioware is laying off 50 employees


Today, rather than discuss one of our upcoming projects, I’d like to share an update about the studio itself and outline our vision for BioWare’s future.

In order to meet the needs of our upcoming projects, continue to hold ourselves to the highest standard of quality, and ensure BioWare can continue to thrive in an industry that’s rapidly evolving, 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.

To achieve this, we find ourselves in a position where change is not only necessary, but unavoidable. As difficult as this is to say, rethinking our approach to development inevitably means reorganizing our team to match the studio’s changing needs.

As part of this transition, we are eliminating approximately 50 roles at BioWare. That is deeply painful and humbling to write. We are doing everything we can to ensure the process is handled with empathy, respect, and clear communication. With that last point in mind, I want to take a moment to explain how we got here, what we’re doing to support our colleagues, and what this means for BioWare’s current and future games.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW​

After much consideration and careful planning, we have built a long-term vision that will preserve the health of the studio and better enable us to do what we do best: create exceptional story-driven single-player experiences filled with vast worlds and rich characters. This vision balances the current needs of the studio—namely, ensuring Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is an outstanding game—with its future, including the success of the next Mass Effect™.

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.

While it’s unlikely that everyone will find a new role within the company, we are committed to supporting our staff as they navigate this change. Our sincere hope is that they can continue their exemplary work at studios who stand to benefit immensely from their talents.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT​

If you’re wondering how all of this will impact development of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, let me be clear that our dedication to the game has never wavered. Our commitment remains steadfast, and we all are working to make this game worthy of the Dragon Age name. We are confident that we’ll have the time needed to ensure Dreadwolf reaches its full potential.

I can also tell you that every member of our team, even those departing BioWare, deserves credit for crafting a spectacular experience. These are our colleagues and friends, and we would not be here without them. I am so proud of all the work our team has done.

WHAT COMES NEXT​

While this is an extremely difficult day for everyone at BioWare, we are making changes now to build a brighter future. We’re excited for all of you to see what we’ve been building with Dreadwolf. A core veteran team led by Mike Gamble continues their pre-production work on the next Mass Effect. Our commitment to quality continues to be our North Star.

As cliche as this sounds, there truly is never a good time to enact changes like this, but we trust that we have the right leaders and team in place with vision, passion, and proven track records to deliver world-class Dragon Age and Mass Effect experiences that our fans will love.

For now, I want to thank everyone at BioWare—past and present—for making the studio what it is. I also want to thank our community for your continued support. We’re eager to reveal more about Dreadwolf, and we look forward to discovering what else the future holds.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
lol another Bioware game in development hell.

Maybe instead of firing staff who you will ultimately need shipping the game on time, try and hold execs and project managers responsible for your games being in development hell all the time.

Gotta love these companies pretend that by laying off these people they will become a more efficient studio. sure.
 

Fuz

Banned
Maybe instead of firing staff who you will ultimately need shipping the game on time, try and hold execs and project managers responsible for your games being in development hell all the time.
I would usually agree 100% with this, but have you seen bioware's actual staff?
Bioware is no longer the same company ever since they sold to EA. Really sucks, but seems to be the way of the industry. You can only finance so many titles before running out of money, selling to a major publisher who kills the talent and rides the name recognition.
EA ruined all my favourite studios. :messenger_crying:
Sucks for people losing their jobs though. Hopefully they get back on their feets quickly.
I hope they do.
Maybe not in gaming, though.
 
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Maybe they will pull an id Software. After Rage cratered they cancelled the sequel, rebooted Doom 4, lost most of the old employees and part of the new staff... They were lucky that Crytek imploded so they could poach their staff and deliver a hit.
 

Neilg

Member
Gotta love these companies pretend that by laying off these people they will become a more efficient studio. sure.

lol you really do though. you end up with so much dead weight in a creative studio and one bad artist sucks up 10x of their supervisors energy than a good one. there is absolutely a threshold where people become a drain on the studio and the fat needs to be trimmed.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
lol you really do though. you end up with so much dead weight in a creative studio and one bad artist sucks up 10x of their supervisors energy than a good one. there is absolutely a threshold where people become a drain on the studio and the fat needs to be trimmed.
I think if they have hired 50 bad artists/developers then it is a bad look on their supervisors.

I have dead weight in my company too, but they are maybe 1% of the engineering workforce. 50 devs in a 500 person studio like Bioware shows that they have a flawed hiring process.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
The downfall of Bioware is arguably the saddest story of the gaming industry.

It's also the perfect example of why consolidation by poorly managed companies is horrible and how it negatively affects games.
 
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sainraja

Member
Doubtful, I'd put money on it being a case like Blizzard where all the..."new blood" devs have managed to kick and scream and kick all the "old bloods" out the door so they can make identity simulator instead of Dragon Age.
What do you mean by "being a case like Blizzard", what exactly happened, and what's the source?
I know of some senior leadership leaving, but is there something I missed?
 

MHubert

Member
I think if they have hired 50 bad artists/developers then it is a bad look on their supervisors.
Sure but that isn't a reason to keep dead weight around.
Besides, the statement says 'we are eliminating approximately 50 roles at BioWare' and I don't think bad supervisors are exempt from that.
 

Valt7786

Member
What do you mean by "being a case like Blizzard", what exactly happened, and what's the source?
I know of some senior leadership leaving, but is there something I missed?


Look, I'm not trying to downplay the allegations, if the stuff that is described in that article is true then yeah it's disgusting and should never have happened.
It just seems like since then Blizzard have been trying to "make up" for it by hiring gender-clowns and putting them at the forefront of development and marketing, like in the recent Diablo 4 devs play video and a lot of the marketing videos for WoW Dragonflight.
 

Hudo

Member
I mean, I don't have high hopes for the next DA game but I genuinely wish for them (actually, for me, mostly) to make a good game for once. I hope with this one, they finally decide which combat-style they want to focus on. Because their attempts at mixing tactical and action gameplay in DA2 and DAI have been shit.
 
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Darkmakaimura

Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?


Look, I'm not trying to downplay the allegations, if the stuff that is described in that article is true then yeah it's disgusting and should never have happened.
It just seems like since then Blizzard have been trying to "make up" for it by hiring gender-clowns and putting them at the forefront of development and marketing, like in the recent Diablo 4 devs play video and a lot of the marketing videos for WoW Dragonflight.
Tokens?

Anyways, I hope this doesn't affect Mass Effect 5. I have a feeling it's going to be in development hell.
 

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling


Look, I'm not trying to downplay the allegations, if the stuff that is described in that article is true then yeah it's disgusting and should never have happened.
It just seems like since then Blizzard have been trying to "make up" for it by hiring gender-clowns and putting them at the forefront of development and marketing, like in the recent Diablo 4 devs play video and a lot of the marketing videos for WoW Dragonflight.
What the games media failed to report is that Activision Blizzard is now suing the California Civil Rights department that caused this "scandal" by bringing unverified allegations and painting the company as tolerant or encouraging of bad behavior:

Driving the news: The new suit, filed to California Superior Court in Sacramento, alleges that the California agency improperly slow-walked or withheld information about its contacts with the media and labor unions regarding the case.

Bobby Kotick himself hit back in a Variety interview with the following statement:
“We’ve had every possible form of investigation done. And we did not have a systemic issue with harassment — ever. We didn’t have any of what were mischaracterizations reported in the media,” Kotick asserts. “But what we did have was a very aggressive labor movement working hard to try and destabilize the company.”
 
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