EA has Merged Mass Effect Studio Bioware Montreal with EA Motive

[ffronw]

EA has Merged Mass Effect Studio Bioware Montreal with EA Motive

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1359/1359354.jpgEA has officially made the studio behind the Mass Effect series part of EA Motive.

After the less-than-stellar reception that Mass Effect Andromeda received at launch, a number of the staff that worked on it were moved over to EA Motive to work on Star Wars: Battlefront 2, and the series was reportedly put on hold [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/170332-Mass-Effect-Series-Put-on-Hold]. Now EA has made it official - Bioware Montreal is merging with Motive Studios.

An EA spokesperson told Tech Raptor [https://techraptor.net/content/bioware-montreal-merge-ea-motive],

"The teams in EA Worldwide Studios are packed with talent, and more than ever, we're driving collaboration between studios on key projects. With multiple major projects in development in Montreal, we are merging BioWare Montreal with Motive Studios. This is an ongoing process, but there are many exciting roles and opportunities for everyone on the team."

Motive is under the direction of Jade Raymond, and has an unannounced Star Wars project in the works. It's also working on the single-player campaign for Battlefront 2.

This merger looks like it could be the end for Mass Effect, at least in the near future. Perhaps when the bad taste that Andromeda left with gamers has faded, the franchise could make a comeback, but we'll have to wait and see.

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[JamesStone]

Ah, the first step on the slow and pitiful death of Bioware.

After what they became can't say I'm sorry to see them go.

 

[bladestorm91]

Finally it has begun, the end of Bioware, going out Westwood style but with not even a speck of honor and respect Westwood had when they died.

 

[MCerberus]

Finally it has begun, the end of Bioware, going out Westwood style but with not even a speck of honor and respect Westwood had when they died.

Well to be fair, Westwood officially went out with a cult-classic FPS and Yuri's freaking Revenge, so in game developer terms, the studio was lifted off to Valhalla in the midst of their greatest glory.

Andromeda's failure was entirely due to a failure to delay the launch. They fixed the meme-worthy stuff while the rest of it is the janky half-cocked but well-meaning ideas that Bioware's been known for since NWN. Well, we'll see if Bioware as a whole survives the launch of Destiny 3 I mean Anthem.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Perform, PERFORM! PERFORM OR BE FED TO THE SHOGGOTH!

Andromeda's failure was entirely due to a failure to delay the launch.

I hate to say it, but Andromeda failed because nobody cared. The premise, the build up, the story, the characters, it simply didn't do enough to generate any interest. EA has managed to drag success out of plenty of janky launches, some far worse than Andromeda (Battlefield 4 and The Old Republic being shining examples), but the base game has to be in some way compelling and Andromeda simply isn't to both the majority of Mass Effect's existing fans and new players.

Even if it had worked great after playing the demo and seeing the trailers I had no interest in spending my money to explore it further, the lack of build quality was just further conformation.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

This is basically the point in the soap opera when everyone is speaking in hushed tones around the character who is hooked up to one of those little "beep beep beeeeeeeeeeep" thingies, and who the audience knows didn't renew their contract for the next season.

Here's hoping whatever creative spark was left in them survives the merge.

 

[Jacked Assassin]

Is there a difference between Bioware & Bioware Montreal? I'm so use to calling them Bioware that Bioware Montreal sounds like a smaller part of Bioware.

This merger looks like it could be the end for Mass Effect, at least in the near future. Perhaps when the bad taste that Andromeda left with gamers has faded, the franchise could make a comeback, but we'll have to wait and see.

Mass Effect 3 left a worse taste for me due to Quarians having human faces.
So Vetra was a massive improvement over what they did for Male Shepard in the original trilogy.

 

[P-89 Scorpion]

Is there a difference between Bioware & Bioware Montreal? I'm so use to calling them Bioware that Bioware Montreal sounds like a smaller part of Bioware.

This merger looks like it could be the end for Mass Effect, at least in the near future. Perhaps when the bad taste that Andromeda left with gamers has faded, the franchise could make a comeback, but we'll have to wait and see.

Mass Effect 3 left a worse taste for me due to Quarians having human faces.
So Vetra was a massive improvement over what they did for Male Shepard in the original trilogy.

The original BioWare is now BioWare Edmonton all the other BioWare studios where created by EA after they bought BioWare and all but BioWare Austin (creators of SWTOR) are now dead.

 

[Major_Tom]

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

So they're making the developers that screwed up ME:A work on the only part of Battlefront II I'm interested in. That's great.

 

[Angelous Wang]

Ah, the first step on the slow and pitiful death of Bioware.

After what they became can't say I'm sorry to see them go.

I'm pretty sure the first step of Bioware's death was selling themselves to EA in the first place.

 

[Bat Vader]

Ah, the first step on the slow and pitiful death of Bioware.

After what they became can't say I'm sorry to see them go.

IIRC Bioware and Bioware Montreal are two separate studios.

 

[Hawki]

Wait, isn't EA meant to be the villain here?

Oh well. To answer people's questions, right now, there's two BioWare studios. One is BioWare Edmonton, the original studio, which is responsible for the original Mass Effect trilogy, Dragon Age, and now, Anthem. The other is BioWare Austin, which is responsible for Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare Montreal was created to assist with the multiplayer content of Mass Effect, but got handed the reigns of Andromeda, and now you see the results of that.

Course, I haven't played that many BioWare games, but it seems iffy to lay the blame solely at Montreal's feet. Some of it sure, given the hassles of the development process, but it was EA that forced them to use Frostbite, and EA who handed an IP to a studio that had only previously done multiplayer for said IP. The analogy that comes to mind is giving keys to your car and asking your kid to park it, only to crash it. Sure, it's the kid who does the crashing, but the parent shouldn't have given the keys to the kid in the first place.

Anyway, doubt we'll see Mass Effect come back for a long time, if ever, so, um, insert Mass Effect 3 Crucible activation music or something.

 

[Fensfield]

Blaargh. I didn't dislike Andromeda but it's going to drive me up the wall not knowing what was going on with the Quarian ark. That felt like it had the potential to go sci-fi horror places,

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Blaargh. I didn't dislike Andromeda but it's going to drive me up the wall not knowing what was going on with the Quarian ark. That felt like it had the potential to go sci-fi horror places,

Right there with you. I have 100% on the original trilogy and all its DLC. I was fully planning to do that with Andromeda, but then I heard that there was probably not going to be any single player DLC, and I was pissed. There were some serious cliffhangers, and the Quarian Ark was the one I was looking forward to the most. But now it seems even less than a pipe dream after hearing this.

 

[Tony2077]

this sucks i am one of what ever amount it is that likes mass effect:Andromeda

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Blaargh. I didn't dislike Andromeda but it's going to drive me up the wall not knowing what was going on with the Quarian ark. That felt like it had the potential to go sci-fi horror places,

Word is they have Blasto's stunt double as their Pathfinder. The Quarians are doing fine.

 

[The Great JT]

What a pitiful way to go out.

 

[SoliterDan]

I hate to say it, but Andromeda failed because nobody cared. The premise, the build up, the story, the characters, it simply didn't do enough to generate any interest. EA has managed to drag success out of plenty of janky launches, some far worse than Andromeda (Battlefield 4 and The Old Republic being shining examples), but the base game has to be in some way compelling and Andromeda simply isn't to both the majority of Mass Effect's existing fans and new players.

Even if it had worked great after playing the demo and seeing the trailers I had no interest in spending my money to explore it further, the lack of build quality was just further conformation.

I remember someone saying after it came out "when nobody is arguing who is the best waifu, you know you've fucked up somewhere".

 

[Per Vejbirk]

Wait, isn't EA meant to be the villain here?

Oh well. To answer people's questions, right now, there's two BioWare studios. One is BioWare Edmonton, the original studio, which is responsible for the original Mass Effect trilogy, Dragon Age, and now, Anthem. The other is BioWare Austin, which is responsible for Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare Montreal was created to assist with the multiplayer content of Mass Effect, but got handed the reigns of Andromeda, and now you see the results of that.

Course, I haven't played that many BioWare games, but it seems iffy to lay the blame solely at Montreal's feet. Some of it sure, given the hassles of the development process, but it was EA that forced them to use Frostbite, and EA who handed an IP to a studio that had only previously done multiplayer for said IP. The analogy that comes to mind is giving keys to your car and asking your kid to park it, only to crash it. Sure, it's the kid who does the crashing, but the parent shouldn't have given the keys to the kid in the first place.

Anyway, doubt we'll see Mass Effect come back for a long time, if ever, so, um, insert Mass Effect 3 Crucible activation music or something.

I totally agree with this!

Also I know I am one off the few people here I am long time Mass effect fan (been with the serie from launch of the first game) And I actually DID like Andromeda and think its getting WAY to much hate.. What really saddens me is that while still not 100% confirmed. This move DO seem to intensifie the rumor that we won't be getting single player DLC for the game. But now all the developers have been moved over to Motive.