• Nobody@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    1·
    7 days ago

    I keep hearing that EA isn’t responsible for this, because BioWare games have gone to shit recently. Does anyone honestly believe that EA’s takeover, corporate culture, and demands on the studio didn’t contribute to the drop in quality?

    EA and other corpos’ death grip doesn’t start at the end when it all falls apart. The death grip is there from the moment you sell.

    • Goodeye8@piefed.socialEnglish
      1·
      6 days ago

      Yeah, because EA gave Bioware a chance to bounce back, in fact multiple chances. You could say EA killed the Bioware of old which the talent leaving the studio, but the new Bioware could’ve bounced back. They had everything they needed to succeed. A credible studio name that people trusted and a bunch of beloved IPs that people would give a chance. They even had EA giving them more than one shot to not fail (which is more than most EA studios get) and also plenty of time to get it right. All Bioware had to do was put out a good game and they simply couldn’t.

      So let me ask in reverse. Let’s say Bioware was indepedent. What would Bioware have to fuck up for you to say its their fault for going under? Because to me they ticked all those boxes already. Had it been any other studio they’d already be dead and forgotten.

      • cmhe@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        6 days ago

        Persued ‘live-service’ games, using game engines that don’t fit, constantly shifting direction of games in development, focusing on a generic streamlined cinematic experience then telling a good, character-driven story with impactful and controversial choices, use Denuvo, stop releasing modding tools, …

        If an independent studio does this stuff… Then they should look for better managers.

        The first games that felt off to me where DA2 and ME3, but I played through them, they were still enjoyable. DA:I was bland and boring, so I dropped it, after that I didn’t see a return to the studio that I remembered.

        • Goodeye8@piefed.socialEnglish
          1·
          6 days ago

          I do hope that was a deliberate jab at Bungie. Because that’s exactly what Bungie did when they were independent and the reason they got bought out by Sony was because they were spiraling into their demise. Even now I think if Bungie goes under the blame lies with Bungie and not Sony. With that in mind I think it would be illogical to see two different studios go down the same path and then blame one studio but excuse the other studio.

            • Goodeye8@piefed.socialEnglish
              1·
              6 days ago

              Ah, they edited their comment as I was writing up mine. What they wrote before was exactly what Bungie did when they were independent. And if they did exactly the same things why would be assume EA killed Bioware but Bungie get them in their dire state on their own? Even with what the other person now changed the question stays the same. Why should we assume EA made them do those things instead of considering the possibility that they chose to do those things on their own? We have an example of a company making those same decisions all on their own and I think the relationship between EA and Bioware (especially when compared to some other studios like Visceral) EA did put some trust and autonomy into Bioware. I just don’t see how it’s inconceivable that Bioware could make those bad decisions on their own.

    • DupaCycki@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      7 days ago

      BioWare itself was a corporation, and that’s the problem. It ruined itself just as much as EA ruined it.

      An outcome like this is inevitable when your goal is infinitely compounding returns on investments.

    • sanpo@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      1·
      7 days ago

      Right. Sucks for the people working there, but the BioWare we miss was already gone, so it doesn’t hurt that much.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
        0·
        6 days ago

        I’d argue slightly before. EA purchased them about the same time Mass Effect came out, which means they didn’t play a part in development. I would say Mass Effect was the beginning of the end for them. Yeah, it was great, but it was the game where they started dumbing things down and moving away from the CRPG into bland action games. Mass Effect was the start of the path towards Anthem and then trying to make Dragon Age into a multiplayer live-service thing, which ended up as Veilguard.