BioWare - David Gaider Leaves

[azarhal]

He will be joining larian Montreal and work in dos2

Larian Québec

 

[Couchpotato]

Well he told Polygon he will announce something soon.

Gaider confirmed that it was his choice to leave in an email to Polygon. "It was indeed my decision, one not made easily since BioWare's been very good to me, and the parting is amicable," he wrote. "It's simply time to move onto a new challenge."

"As to where I'm headed next, that announcement will come in due time — today's about saying goodbye and packing up," he added.

Seems he might already have a new game to work on with another developer.

 

[ilm]

Larian Québec

Right, don't know why I had Montreal n mind. Think they considered that as an option too, and for me it all looks the same

As an aside, found in an article that they get a 37.5% tax reduction per employee. Pretty steep. Of which 7.5% if they make a french version of their game

 

[Hexprone]

The sales numbers of Divinity, PoE etc. would be considered a total failure by EA/BioWare, UbiSoft or Actiblizz and are a very far cry from the big scale mentioned by Gaider.

Of course. But we were speaking in terms of the viability of getting the games made, not the scale of profit on a corporate level -- which anyway doesn't necessarily translate into bigger bucks for the writing staff working on the games.

 

[joxer]

Right, don't know why I had Montreal n mind.

I'm also surprised.
They accept only hypertalent in Montreal. Gaider... May be above average but hypertalent, nah. He just got lucky by being EA employee so his work got billions of advertisments.

 

[Steinawarjar]

I agree seems most old timers are gone now.

Though I think Lukas Kristjanson is still one of the older remaining writers left. Also Drew Karpyshyn (lead writer of Mass Effect 1&2) rejoined BioWare in mid 2015.
Good question Hexprone hopefully Gaider returns to the industry. I would love to see what he could do with an indie RPG like Original Sin, or Pillars of Eternity.

Yeah, he has been with them at least since BG2. He is the one who wrote Minsc. Well, actually Minsc was based on a character from James Ohlen's pen & paper campaign, like the majority of the games characters, but Luke is the one who fleshed him out and added the wacky humour. Actually, I think he had a role in BG1 as well, but I may be wrong.

 

[Aubrielle]

Well he told Polygon he will announce something soon.
Seems he might already have a new game to work on with another developer.

I do notice a trend - whenever a developer leaves a studio - for any reason at all - it's always super vague like this. This tells us nothing at all about why he left or what might have been behind it. Maybe it's none of my business, but it's still frustrating nonetheless.

 

[Falksi]

It has to be said, with the sheer amazing quality of games which Bioware produced at its peak, it's surprising EA haven't used all it's power to keep more team members there.

I know they are hype orientated, but surely the staff investment would return even bigger figures?

I've bought BG1&2 4 times now over the years in various guises. DA-Origins twice and it's not even that old. If EA want to make games folk will still be buying in 15-20 years, then they need to get Bioware making good ones again. Lord knows I played DA:I on a friends console, and wouldn't dream of buying it until it's £5-10 second hand. If they made BG2 3-D I'd chuck money at them.

 

[crpgnut]

Playing DA:I and while I don't need the sex stuff, it is easy to avoid. The rest of the story seems fine. I don't plan on romancing anyone...well maybe Harding if there is an option. She's the only female that I've been attracted to.....

 

[Sacred_Path]

I've bought BG1&2 4 times now over the years in various guises. DA-Origins twice and it's not even that old. If EA want to make games folk will still be buying in 15-20 years, then they need to get Bioware making good ones again. Lord knows I played DA:I on a friends console, and wouldn't dream of buying it until it's £5-10 second hand. If they made BG2 3-D I'd chuck money at them.

Make Bioware Great Again

 

[Stingray]

The sales numbers of Divinity, PoE etc. would be considered a total failure by EA/BioWare, UbiSoft or Actiblizz and are a very far cry from the big scale mentioned by Gaider.
Those games did well for their respective studios but it's not something EA or any other big publisher would associate with an acceptable sales performance. Not even close.

You seem to be confusing a few things, such as budget/expenses, revenue, and profit. I don't know as much about the numbers involved with PoE, but based on D:OS's budget (revealed by Larian) and the amount we know it sold, its profit margin was massive. Most likely a far better profit margin than EA makes on its own games.

Is the scale of D:OS big enough for a company like EA to bother making a game like it? Probably not (although Ubi did make M&M X), but nobody would consider something that earns back several times its original budget to be "total failure".

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

He will be joining larian Montreal and work on dos2

Wut ? Is this for real ?

 

[Moriendor]

You seem to be confusing a few things, such as budget/expenses, revenue, and profit. I don't know as much about the numbers involved with PoE, but based on D:OS's budget (revealed by Larian) and the amount we know it sold, its profit margin was massive. Most likely a far better profit margin than EA makes on its own games.

I'm not confusing anything and I'm fully aware of all that. The poster I quoted claimed that David Gaider effectively said that he is only interested in working on "big scale" games. No matter how profitable Divinity Original Sin, WL2 or PoE might have been, they are not big scale by any stretch of the imagination.
A gig like EA/BioWare is simply not interested in games that might sell "only" 500K to 1.x million units max.

Big scale = AAA budget & production values, big teams with people often times spread out across several countries/continents and sales in the region of at least -what?- 3, 4, 5 or even 10 million units upwards. Heck, Square Enix were disappointed in the 2013 Tomb Raider selling "only" three million units. The big publishers are thinking in totally different scales than Larian, Obsidian or inXile.

They are all about the gaming equivalent of Hollywood. My point was that it seems very doubtful that someone like Gaider with (seemingly) an exclusive interest in Hollywood and the silver screen would really be somehow melancholic about missed opportunities working for smaller scale gigs.
He seems to be more like a Harrison Ford of gaming who (HF) has also admitted that he always wanted to make the great and not just do the small scale TV stuff he did in his early years.

 

[joxer]

Heck, Square Enix were disappointed in the 2013 Tomb Raider selling "only" three million units. The big publishers are thinking in totally different scales than Larian, Obsidian or inXile.

And then the same company releases the sequel the same day as FO4.

 

[Hexprone]

The poster I quoted claimed that David Gaider effectively said that he is only interested in working on "big scale" games.

No, not at all.

What he said was that old-fashioned RPGs just couldn't get made anymore -- that there wasn't a sufficient market to support RPGs (the lengthy development required by in-depth writing etc etc) without the backing of a AAA publisher and all that goes along with it.

My point was that it seems very doubtful that someone like Gaider ... would really be somehow melancholic about missed opportunities working for smaller scale gigs.

A brief search has failed to turn up the exchange in forum archives, so I can't quote him directly. But yes, his tone was regretful -- on the order of "Yeah, that sure would be nice, but it's a pipe dream."

 

[Couchpotato]

No, not at all.

What he said was that old-fashioned RPGs just couldn't get made anymore -- that there wasn't a sufficient market to support RPGs (the lengthy development required by in-depth writing etc etc) without the backing of a AAA publisher and all that goes along with it.

A brief search has failed to turn up the exchange in forum archives, so I can't quote him directly. But yes, his tone was regretful -- on the order of "Yeah, that sure would be nice, but it's a pipe dream."

Well I remember it was an interview with the founders of Bio-Ware, and they quoted them as saying RPGs like Baldur's Gate in today's game climate was unrealistic.

Shows how much they knew as Kickstater has proved them wrong, but as stated above the small revenue profit gained is not worth it for large billion dollar publishers.

And then the same company releases the sequel the same day as FO4.

Let's not forget making it a timed XBox One exclusive that pissed off buyers of other platforms. Looks like it will finally be released on PC soon, but I'm not buying it.

Yeah, he has been with them at least since BG2. He is the one who wrote Minsc. Well, actually Minsc was based on a character from James Ohlen's pen & paper campaign, like the majority of the games characters, but Luke is the one who fleshed him out and added the wacky humour. Actually, I think he had a role in BG1 as well, but I may be wrong.

I found his profile on the BioWare Wiki.

Link - http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Lukas_Kristjanson

Lukas Kristjanson is a senior writer for BioWare. His first work for BioWare was as a writer for the original Baldur's Gate, released in 1998. He was the lead writer and a designer on the sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.

Other writing credits include Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, MDK2, Baldur's Gate: Throne of Bhaal, Neverwinter Nights, Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and Mass Effect 2.

Dragon Age: Origins

Kristjanson wrote the DLC Leliana's Song. He also co-wrote the plot for A Paragon of Her Kind with Jennifer Hepler.

Dragon Age II

Kristjanson wrote Aveline Vallen and Carver Hawke.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Kristjanson has been credited as a senior writer.

He was responsible for writing the character of Sera. He also wrote the main quest In Your Heart Shall Burn.

 

[joxer]

Let's not forget making it a timed XBox One exclusive that pissed off buyers of other platforms. Looks like it will finally be released on PC soon, but I'm not buying it.

I'm not buying it either.
Although not because timed exclusivity, but because season pass.
Make a game, sell the complete product and go work on the next title. I'm sick of them trying to pull my nose. In the end, their loss. I'll just sit and wait till the game is complete and heavily discounted instead of paying the full price.

 

[azarhal]

And he started his new job yesterday at Beamdog from the look of it.

 

[Carnifex]

Welcome to Edmonton, hope you brought a parka or three! (Although this week has been rather warm, the cold will be back).

 

[Pongo]

And he started his new job yesterday at Beamdog from the look of it.

That's good news if its true! I'd love to see David Gaider work with Beamdog on writing their new game ( the one following Dragonspear).