BioWare - Two Key People leaving

Redglyph spotted that two key people just announced that they are leaving Bioware:

• Casey Hudson, who had been working as a developer on most titles since 2000, and had already left in 2014 to come back in 2015. He's currently General Manager of the studio.
• Mark Darrah, Executive Producer for Dragon Age since 2009, he has been working for Bioware since 1997.

More information.

Did they get a chance to hit the awesome button on their way out the door?

Games like Baldur's Gate don't require nostalgia glasses to feel good (IMHO). But Bioware just might..
Still crossing finger and hoping they can rebound with Dragon Age.

I found DA:2 dire, DA:I dull beyond belief and drowning in bad SJW vibes, so hold no hope for DA:4 as it is.

Not sure if these two leaving is a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, if Bioware continue trying to create action games disguised as RPGs, and constantly smear real life politics in our faces, they're doomed to fail regardless.

Originally Posted by Falksi
I found DA:2 dire, DA:I dull beyond belief and drowning in bad SJW vibes.

DAI was great, definitely underrated and overcriticized (also here). But they are taking too long with the 4th chapter.

As I said on my news thread already.

Thanks for sharing Joxer. Not the first time either if I recall. Anyway good riddance as one was the mastermind behind Anthem, and the other ruined Dragon Age.

Originally Posted by Telstar
DAI was great, definitely underrated and overcriticized (also here). But they are taking too long with the 4th chapter.

Because part four was ready last year but was scrapped by EA. BioWare had to reboot development from scratch again to implement and design a different game.

Link - https://kotaku.com/the-past-and-pres…e-4-1833913351

Originally Posted by Capt. Huggy Face
Did they get a chance to hit the awesome button on their way out the door?

That guy was fired after DA 2 so no.

key word today is online connected worlds.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
Games like Baldur's Gate don't require nostalgia glasses to feel good (IMHO). But Bioware just might..
Still crossing finger and hoping they can rebound with Dragon Age.

Check out the link I shared above.

It's interesting to read the the cancelled game was classic BioWare. Based on the behind the scene video the new version looks inspired by Dark Souls. I shudder at the thought.

Originally Posted by Falksi
Either way, if Bioware continue trying to create action games disguised as RPGs, and constantly smear real life politics in our faces, they're doomed to fail regardless.

Why do you say that? Is Bioware struggling or something?
I don't even play their games, but I don't see the connection between your complaints and commercial failure.

Originally Posted by screeg
Why do you say that? Is Bioware struggling or something?
I don't even play their games, but I don't see the connection between your complaints and commercial failure.

At one point I thought the same but Anthem has made a profit. I think it has to do with public image being tarnished beyond repair, but all they need is one good RPG.

Hopefully DA4 and the confirmed in development Mass Effect allow that.

Bioware still has key people?

Originally Posted by JDR13
Bioware still has key people?

Not any more.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Bioware still has key people?

Ha! You beat me to it.

That's something which we always forget. It never was the company that built our favorite games. It was the people that were there when it was built. And very frequently people move around. But companies want consumers to associate the product with the company, when it never was. It was the people. We should be following people, not companies. But that's harder. Much easier to just remember the company brand name. And it's too bad that companies also don't want to encourage that. Because then their employees would actually have more influence. They want to keep the illusion that talent and hardwork can just be bought with a salary. Nope. It's very rare and very particular.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
That's something which we always forget. It never was the company that built our favorite games. It was the people that were there when it was built. And very frequently people move around. But companies want consumers to associate the product with the company, when it never was. It was the people. We should be following people, not companies. But that's harder. Much easier to just remember the company brand name. And it's too bad that companies also don't want to encourage that. Because then their employees would actually have more influence. They want to keep the illusion that talent and hardwork can just be bought with a salary. Nope. It's very rare and very particular.

You can see that with Bethesda and Blizzard also. The modern developer is school trained which has alot to do with it. They might as well advertise themselves as mediocre, business school types trained up on monetisation, and the 'correct' thinking about games.

Follow-up on the nice PR around this

https://kotaku.com/dragon-age-voice-…-at-1845811800

So the guy replacing Casey Hudson as Studio GM has been with BioWare for 2 years at most (based on LinkedIn) and the only game credits to his name (based on MobyGames) are a bunch of sports games, "TRON: Evolution" (58 on Metacritic), and "Def Jam: Fight for NY" which has a pretty hilarious name at least (and is described by Metacritic as "the ultimate hip-hop-fueled fighting video game" ).

The guy now in charge of Dragon Age as Executive Producer, again based on MobyGames' data, only seems to have had a potentially big role in "The Last Airbender" (53 on Metacritic), "Lords of EverQuest" (62), "Fear Effect" (too old), and maybe Anthem (59).

Looks like BioWare is in good hands per usual.
How much longer are they even going to be around at this point?

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
That's something which we always forget. It never was the company that built our favorite games. It was the people that were there when it was built. And very frequently people move around. But companies want consumers to associate the product with the company, when it never was. It was the people. We should be following people, not companies. But that's harder. Much easier to just remember the company brand name. And it's too bad that companies also don't want to encourage that. Because then their employees would actually have more influence. They want to keep the illusion that talent and hardwork can just be bought with a salary. Nope. It's very rare and very particular.

Something experience in several companies told me:

It's not only the people, those talented individuals, but the convergence of them and the will of a company to build the product that will make them greater, at a given time when the market is ready for that. And it's not easy to get all 3 components right.

Many people are talented, especially in the technical field. But they need focus, and they'll only thrive in a good environment. Remove the focus and everyone will create wonderful things in a corner. Remove the good environment and they'll either suffer from burnout or leave the company.

There are fewer good leaders who are able to provide this. But there only need to be a handful in the company, so that's usually fine. Of course, they need to get enough freedom to lead their projects, and for big projects where several of them work together, they need to be on the same page.

And finally, there's the vision at the management level. And the compromises they must make when they're only a subsidiary.

I don't know if I still have much hope for Bioware, really, and it pains me. Many talented people left, they acquired a lot of know-how, even created other companies like Archetype Entertainment (a subsidiary of WotC..). But did they keep the recipe? I hope they'll also remember that it needs more than talent to make magic happen again

Originally Posted by Redglyph
Follow-up on the nice PR around this

https://kotaku.com/dragon-age-voice-…-at-1845811800

Wow. So much editorialising in that article.