BioWare Is Lucky, Says Co-Founder

[Logan Westbrook]

BioWare Is Lucky, Says Co-Founder

BioWare might be one of the best known, and best loved, developers in the world, but vice president and co-founder Greg Zeschuk says that the developer isn't taking its success for granted.

Zeschuk says that BioWare is in a privileged position since its acquisition by EA in 2007. He says that EA gives the studio the support and budget it needs to make "great big giant games," and acknowledges that it's an enviable situation to be in: "I think we know how lucky we are," he said. "We always know that we're super-fortunate that we have a nice combination of things going on."

But Zeschuk isn't becoming complacent and says that while BioWare's games are successful, there are always bigger fish around to keep things in perspective. He says that it is a running joke at BioWare that it would be "satisfied" if The Old Republic did half as well as World Warcraft, and that games like Modern Warfare 2 had redefined what it meant to be "successful."

"Well, we need to sell 10 million units, that's actually the new target, right?" Zeschuk joked, "Sometimes I'm facetious when I say some of those things, knowing that we can sell a few million but seeing that someone else can sell 25 [million]. You're kinda like, 'Well, that's a hit!'"


Source: Videogamer [http://www.videogamer.com/news/10_million_sales_is_biowares_new_target.html]




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[Premonition]

Everyone who is successful should count their lucky stars. And for the men and women behind BioWare it's a very well deserved success. Hip hip, HOORAY!

 

[pearcinator]

While Bioware deserves FAR more sales than the likes of MW2 and Mario Kart Wii...theres the difference that those kind of games are targetted towards a mainstream audience.

Lets face it, a lot of gamers are young and dumb. They dont get Bioware's epic RPGs because the stories are far too deep for them.

I do hope (and pray) though that The Old Republic will get a fanbase comparable to WOW. I also hope that Bioware RPGs outsell Bethesda ones (even though they aren't very similar they are still in the same genre)

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Now...would you kindly use that luck and success to make "Jade Empire 2", Bioware?

 

[SonicWaffle]

While Bioware deserves FAR more sales than the likes of MW2 and Mario Kart Wii...theres the difference that those kind of games are targetted towards a mainstream audience.

Lets face it, a lot of gamers are young and dumb. They dont get Bioware's epic RPGs because the stories are far too deep for them.

I wouldn't say dumb, quite so much as raised with different expectations. When I was a kid, the really big games at the time were stuff like Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy VII etc. Big games, games that took time to master and even longer to complete. Sprawling games that really drew the player in. Kids these days have stuff like Modern Warfare or Halo, where the emphasis is far more on quick action-movie style gameplay, not to mention multiplayer. When you've been raised on a steady diet of twitch reflexes and pwning n00bs, it must be hard to adjust to playing a huge RPG that might take 40 hours to complete.

I do hope (and pray) though that The Old Republic will get a fanbase comparable to WOW. I also hope that Bioware RPGs outsell Bethesda ones (even though they aren't very similar they are still in the same genre)

I doubt The Old Republic will ever topple WoW, but here's hoping. What do you have against Bethesda? Oblivion and Fallout 3 are two of the best RPG games of the current generation. I mean, I loves me some BioWare, but credit where it's due...

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I've been critical of Bioware in the past but I don't really envy them of the goal to not only maintain their current sales but increase them by a large margin. It has to be a hard balance when it comes to working out how accessible to make their games vs making them challenging in terms of gameplay and content for people who have been playing their RPGs for more than ten years.

That said, I don't really think that Modern Warfare has redefined sales.

In every generation there is normally at least one hugely popular series that sells around ten million, like GTA3 and Gran Turismo on PS2 for example. The real redefining stuff this generation has been titles like Nintendogs, Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii which sell around 20 million. Nobody thinks that Bioware should compete with Mario Kart and personally I don't think that they should target games like Modern Warfare or GTA especially since Dragon Age was outselling Mass Effect.

Edit: Didn't realise that MW2 was probably close to 20 million but I think I still have a point.

 

[unacomn]

Zeschuk says that BioWare is in a privileged position since its acquisition by EA in 2007. He says that EA gives the studio the support and budget it needs to make "great big giant games," and acknowledges that it's an enviable situation to be in: "I think we know how lucky we are," he said. "We always know that we're super-fortunate that we have a nice combination of things going on."

As I gaze upon the tombs of what were once Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Pandemic and many more, I say to thee, beware the beast but enjoy the feast he offers. Just remember to skip on the check.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Zeschuk says that BioWare is in a privileged position since its acquisition by EA in 2007. He says that EA gives the studio the support and budget it needs to make "great big giant games," and acknowledges that it's an enviable situation to be in: "I think we know how lucky we are," he said. "We always know that we're super-fortunate that we have a nice combination of things going on."

As I gaze upon the tombs of what were once Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Pandemic and many more, I say to thee, beware the beast but enjoy the feast he offers. Just remember to skip on the check.

The only one of those I've heard of was Pandemic...

Refresh my memory of the others, perhaps?

 

[Jared]

Well, at least he haas the right attitude. It means they will continue to at least try and make games which are successful!

 

[JediMB]

Zeschuk says that BioWare is in a privileged position since its acquisition by EA in 2007. He says that EA gives the studio the support and budget it needs to make "great big giant games," and acknowledges that it's an enviable situation to be in: "I think we know how lucky we are," he said. "We always know that we're super-fortunate that we have a nice combination of things going on."

As I gaze upon the tombs of what were once Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Pandemic and many more, I say to thee, beware the beast but enjoy the feast he offers. Just remember to skip on the check.

The only one of those I've heard of was Pandemic...

Refresh my memory of the others, perhaps?

Westwood made Command & Conquer.

Bullfrog had hits like Theme Park back in the day.

Origin created Ultima and Wing Commander.

 

[Quaxar]

If that's luck I bet they have a whole basement full of four-leafed clovers and chimney sweepers...
Let's hope that they use this for The Old Republic, I want to see it be a huge success!

 

[Nimzar]

Zeschuk says that BioWare is in a privileged position since its acquisition by EA in 2007. He says that EA gives the studio the support and budget it needs to make "great big giant games," and acknowledges that it's an enviable situation to be in: "I think we know how lucky we are," he said. "We always know that we're super-fortunate that we have a nice combination of things going on."

As I gaze upon the tombs of what were once Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Pandemic and many more, I say to thee, beware the beast but enjoy the feast he offers. Just remember to skip on the check.

The only one of those I've heard of was Pandemic...

Refresh my memory of the others, perhaps?

Umm I know Bullfrog. They were behind the Dungeon Keeper series.

 

[Kiefer13]

Nice to see they're not letting their success get to their head, well deserved as it is. I've loved every Bioware game I've played, and I'm really looking forward to The Old Republic. WoW just bored me after a while. Hopefully this will hold my interest for longer.

 

[megs1120]

Zeschuk says that BioWare is in a privileged position since its acquisition by EA in 2007. He says that EA gives the studio the support and budget it needs to make "great big giant games," and acknowledges that it's an enviable situation to be in: "I think we know how lucky we are," he said. "We always know that we're super-fortunate that we have a nice combination of things going on."

As I gaze upon the tombs of what were once Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Pandemic and many more, I say to thee, beware the beast but enjoy the feast he offers. Just remember to skip on the check.

Right on, Origin was glad EA's money enabled them to make "great big giant games" like Wing Commander IV, but in the end, Origin isn't around anymore. EA is a different company now than it was when they shut down Origin, but all the same, good luck, Bioware, you might need it.

 

[Rigs83]

Nice to see they're not letting their success get to their head, well deserved as it is. I've loved every Bioware game I've played, and I'm really looking forward to The Old Republic. WoW just bored me after a while. Hopefully this will hold my interest for longer.

As a sci fi geek WOW was boring to me too. I hope TOR doesn't pull a Tabula Rasa on us because from what I hear it may be the most expensive game ever and certainly the most expensive game EA has ever created. If it fails it could easily bankrupt EA.

 

[Omnific One]

Now...would you kindly use that luck and success to make "Jade Empire 2", Bioware?

For god's sakes, yes. Edit: Or KoTOR3

I am a tad worried that Bioware is becoming to dependent on DLC sales. They've just been pumping so much time and money into DLC, instead of expanding their horizons.