BioWare Loses Another Key Player

[Andy Chalk]

BioWare Loses Another Key Player

Daniel Erickson, the lead designer and creative director on Star Wars: The Old Republic, has left BioWare.

It's been a rough stretch for BioWare. Star Wars: The Old Republic Executive Producer Rich Vogel quit [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118534-Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-Loses-Executive-Producer-UPDATED] in September and now Daniel Erickson, SWTOR's lead designer and creative director, has headed out the door.

Erickson hasn't offered any specific reasons for his departure, but posts on his new Twitter account suggest that he's not happy with where the studio was headed. "When 90% of the industry is saying the exact same thing (social, mobile, FTP!) a huge number of people are going to lose that race," he wrote. "Job hunt thought: If you think a monetization approach is the same thing as a game idea I don't know why we're talking."

In response to a Twitter user who said he was burned out on MMOs and missed games like Monkey Island, Full Throttle and Space Quest, he added, "Not funny at all. There's a reason Kickstarters for classic adventure games and classic RPGs have done so well."

It's a far cry from Erickson's gushing words about BioWare on his LinkedIn page, which hasn't been updated to reflect his departure. "Took a step down from Lead Designer role at EA to get into BioWare and learn from the best story designers," it says. It also contains a recommendation from Vogel, who wrote, "If you need someone to define a vision and build a great game and team around that vision, he is your man." Vogel is currently putting together a team [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119951-Former-BioWare-VP-Heads-New-Bethesda-Studio] to work on an unannounced project at Bethesda's new Battlecry Studios.

Source: LinkedIn [https://twitter.com/DanielAErickson]


Permalink

 

[Akisa]

Is there a sinking ship and the bioware employees are likes rats?

 

[Fappy]

There is no way all these departures are going to look good to the shareholders.

 

[jollybarracuda]

So that's now 2 people who have joined Bethesda right after leaving BioWare? Interesting...but at the same time, i like it. Bethesda at least attempts to make quality RPGs. I think, with Skyrim, they spent too much time crafting an excellent world, rather than fleshing out a proper RPG experience, but it's still better than how EA/BioWare turned Mass Effect into a shooting gallery. Interested to see where this all goes, or if it will make a difference at all.

captcha: caesar salad
HAIL CAESAR!

 

[cahtush]

There is no way all these departures are going to look good to the shareholders.

No... NO!
You replaced the cat!
Nooooooooooo!
WHY!?

OT: Looks like ToRtanic is becoming Bioware-tanic... or something like that.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I can taste the blood in the water, and it is delicious.

Look on my comrades. This is how a God dies.

 

[Fappy]

There is no way all these departures are going to look good to the shareholders.

No... NO!
You replaced the cat!
Nooooooooooo!
WHY!?

OT: Looks like ToRtanic is becoming Bioware-tanic... or something like that.

Yeah, I done changed it. Made a thread regarding it in OT as well XP

 

[Entitled]

Not with a bang but a whimper.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Oh look, a Bioware piece. I can't wait for the 10,000 comments on how it's not a 'proper RPG' if you don't have to navigate through at least three different menus to get someone to move their arm...

I hope this works out well for him. Although, apart from TOR going free to play, I haven't heard Bioware in particular making any kind of huge noise about social and mobile gaming, so I don't know what's got him riled there.

 

[Lt. Rocky]

Of course, Bioware starts falling apart right when I'm almost fit to apply for a position there.

 

[Akisa]

So that's now 2 people who have joined Bethesda right after leaving BioWare? Interesting...but at the same time, i like it. Bethesda at least attempts to make quality RPGs. I think, with Skyrim, they spent too much time crafting an excellent world, rather than fleshing out a proper RPG experience, but it's still better than how EA/BioWare turned Mass Effect into a shooting gallery. Interested to see where this all goes, or if it will make a difference at all.

captcha: caesar salad
HAIL CAESAR!

To be fair they left the Roleplaying in Mass Effect intact. As for the stat based mechanics, yes they have diluted to be more shooter focus.

 

[INeedAName]

Feels like either the old Bioware crew is finally fed up with EA's bull and they are now pulling out one after another, or EA has decided to put blame on the veterans for the company's recent failures and coerced them to quit.

 

[cahtush]

Yeah, I done changed it. Made a thread regarding it in OT as well XP

But... but... why?
[sub][sub]sell-out[/sub][/sub]

 

[Entitled]

So that's now 2 people who have joined Bethesda right after leaving BioWare? Interesting...but at the same time, i like it. Bethesda at least attempts to make quality RPGs. I think, with Skyrim, they spent too much time crafting an excellent world, rather than fleshing out a proper RPG experience, but it's still better than how EA/BioWare turned Mass Effect into a shooting gallery. Interested to see where this all goes, or if it will make a difference at all.

captcha: caesar salad
HAIL CAESAR!

To be fair they left the Roleplaying in Mass Effect intact. As for the stat based mechanics, yes they have diluted to be more shooter focus.

I'm pretty sure that these stat based mechanics are what he meant by "proper RPG experience", and not just "roleplaying" in general.

I mean, yeah, in a way, you "play a role" in every game where you control a character, (and then in some others, too), but to claim with that argument that Bioware didn't really abandon the RPG genre, kind of ignores how and why video game genres exist.

 

[nightwolf667]

Quick! All hands to the lifeboats!

But in all seriousness, it doesn't look good for them. Hopefully, the fleeing survivors will manage to pull together another company, join Kickstarter, and have good job prospects as they look towards the future.

 

[Woodsey]

I hope this works out well for him. Although, apart from TOR going free to play, I haven't heard Bioware in particular making any kind of huge noise about social and mobile gaming, so I don't know what's got him riled there.

I think they are working on a F2P something, but it was so uninteresting I forget what. Let's face it though, their might not be anything visible in the works, but EA would have said to them about it.

OT: Seems they're bleeding chips. Hope he does alright though, always seemed like a really nice guy.

 

[tmande2nd]

Ahem.
I think this is appropriate.

 

[Nihlus2]

It's funny how people keep saying that Bioware employees are first now abandoning ship.

Most of the Mass Effect Team was gone by the team ME3 was in production, the original staff of Bioware is so small atm, that it was mostly key figures and some veterans left.

Still... this is showing some very, very "speculative" signs of Bioware still going downhill. God dammit EA, damn you and your buisness practices.