If you really think running Anthem will prevent them from developing another game that's going to give them free money almost no matter what they do - then that's ok with me.
Even Andromeda made a decent profit IIRC, and that was largely panned by both critics and the audience.
I'm afraid, despite your
vast and
deep knowledge of the industry, you keep missing the point.
"Decent" profit often isn't enough. This depends on the publisher ( Ubisoft despite it's annual generic whatever, often works on great smaller titles like Child of Light), but on larger, more expensive projects, they go with less risk/high profit. And EA openly talking about SP oriented games becoming more "obsolete" ( which Mass Effect is), they need a better return for it.
Teams for live games tend to be much, much smaller than when actually developing the game. So, unless it's a gigantic hit like, say, WoW - you can rest assured they will be creating other games as soon as it's financially viable to do so.
That depends on the type of game and what content they're planning to add to it. For some it takes much more than a "skeleton crew". And Bioware already stated it is "10 year long journey" and that is more story driven ( than similar games like Destiny), which requires a lot more work than adding skins, simple game mechanics, balancing, etc.
Also, it's not like Bioware is this static unit of people that can't expand or contract - or that they can't use other people to work on Mass Effect.
Again, not a lot of people understand game development. I don't mean that as an insult, it's just the way of things.
Agreed, and in your case, you've perfectly demonstrated it.
You see, while people on "minor" positions tend to move around a lot, highly experienced leads ( typically) do not. And I'm
sure you're aware that finding people in those positions is actually pretty difficult ( mostly thanks to high rate burnout). Not to mention that Bioware has lost considerable number of people in those positions in recent years.
And last time, EA handed IP to unproven studio, "coincidentally" Mass Effect Andromeda happened. They even had to pull one of leads from Edmonton to save the project…despite this, it killed the studio, put franchise on ice, and damaged Bioware's reputation.
It's unlikely EA would do the same again. And the ones who have experience on IP,
are working on Anthem, with Casey Hudson spearheading the project. Again, their own words:
10 year project.
EA are calling the shots, so it will invariably depend on what they think will be the most profitable game to make at any given time.
But if they don't start talking about a new Mass Effect in development within 7+ years - as you say - it's not going to be because of Anthem. I will give my personal guarentee for that
Read above. Also recently, Ammy Hennig who worked on cancelled EA Star Wars game, left the company. She also talked about problems with SP centered AAA games and how publishers are shifting away from them.
To me, that's like when people constantly said that Elder Scrolls 6 wouldn't happen because ESO is making money.
Flawed analogy. TES is one of the most popular and profitable franchises in gaming. It wouldn't be the same franchise
with MP. Bethesda can release it a month after ESO expansion without even the slightest worry.
Andromeda is nowhere near ( commercially) successful; and bad reception
always hits next game in the series ( see Watch Dogs I/II). Even Dragon Age II received a good amount of post launch content. Andromeda: zero.
This industry - like Hollywood - is being run by suits. Suits care about one thing above all else: Profit.
How
much profit is more relevant. If you can earn 1.50 for every $ you spend, or 5, or 10…
Also huge amount of revenue for EA comes from microtransactions, and MP oriented ( which Mass Effect is not) games are much easier to monetize on that front.
Former EA employee: "EA doesn't care
what you want, they care
what you will pay for".
An established franchise with a significant built-in playerbase will ALWAYS return, and suits don't wait around for kicks if they can generate good profit sooner.
You might want to inform them then to start working on C&C, Dead Space and dozens of other IPs that were ( comercially) successful, even without breaking sales records.
Sorry, but that is plain false: There are far too many cases of publishers setting unrealistic sale expectations, game earning decent amount of profit, and it still being put on ice afterwards.
Oh, and Division definitely does NOT have 2K people working on it. What an absurd notion.
Maybe during development, it had a lot of people working on it (including many with only minor roles or contractors - and not full time) - but absolutely not now.
Same will be the case for Division 2 - and if you're talking about that game, then it's more like 1000 developers. But, again, definitely not in a full time capacity and MOST definitely not post-launch.
Congratz for mastering the obvious.
Yes, I was talking about total numbers that includes outside contractors, but "GAAS" games require a lot more than a few dozen people working post launch. Bioware's own words indicate they're in for a long haul and entirely focused on it.
Again, you do NOT understand game development. Just accept it.
Would you mind telling us more about your
personal experience on working in industry? Projects you worked on, publishers,…or even worked with game legends like Mikami, Spector, Miyamoto, ol' Gabe and others? Perhaps even taught them a few tricks, eh?
You must have many wonderful stories to tell.
