EA Closes BioWare San Francisco - UPDATED

[Andy Chalk]

EA Closes BioWare San Francisco - UPDATED

The studio was apparently "too expensive" to keep afloat.

BioWare San Francisco, best known for developing 2D casual games based on existing EA franchises, has been closed down. The closure will reportedly result in the layoffs of 25 to 30 employees.

Formerly known as EA2D, BioWare San Francisco developed the browser-based Mirror's Edge 2D and Dragon Age Legends, as well as The Fancy Pants Adventures and AWOL. Dragon Age Legends was closed down [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117357-EA-Closing-Dragon-Age-Legends] in May 2012 because of declining participation.

The studio was given the BioWare moniker in August 2011. EA hasn't yet commented on the reasons for the closure but sources say the Redwood Shores, CA region is "too expensive" for mobile game development.

It's been a rough year so far for EA and it's employees: In February, EA shut down [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122300-Rumor-Electronic-Arts-Closes-Visceral-Montreal] Visceral Montreal and laid off employees in Los Angeles as well.

Source: GamesRadar [http://www.gamesradar.com/bioware-san-francisco-shut-down-employees-laid-off/]

UPDATE: In response to inquiries, Electronic Arts said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau addressed the issue a couple of weeks ago in the blog post entitled "Transition Is Our Friend [http://www.ea.com/news/transition-is-our-friend]," and that it had no further comment to make on individual studio or headcount reductions.

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[Akisa]

oO, I read the title and assumed the worst. But I hate all these sub studios sharing the same name as their parents. If they close down it makes it seems that the parent is also closing down on first glance.

 

[Chessrook44]

Wait, they made Fancy Pants Adventures?!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CriticalMiss]

It's all Bioware San Francisco's fault for not selling eleventy billion copies like EA expected.

 

[Church185]

This is what you call consolidating boys and girls. No more browser based games, no more action pretending to be horror, and no more Medal of Honor. Now we just have to wait until that Mass Effect spin-off fails to set the world on fire, and we can kiss the real Bioware goodbye as well.

This, I have a feeling in my gut that there is going to be a big shift in the industry soon (though that may just be indigestion). EA games failing to meet sales goals time and time again this last release season, the boom of indie games that made a ton of money despite a budget that was only a fraction of what AAA developers spend, and the overall meh attitude towards the PS4 announcement.

I feel like big changes are going to happen soon, for better or worse I'm not sure yet.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

EA seems to be crumbling. This is good news.

Bad news is that they will take down a lot of talent with it. Cut yourselves loose developers! Bioware, get out now!

DICE? Meh, you can go down for all I care, unless you're willing to keep Mirror's Edge afloat.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Dooom! DOOOOOOOM!

 

[Krantos]

Don't really feel too strongly about it, but I thought it'd be a good usage of that.

Still, though, it's the first BioWare studio closing. Even if the studio was affiliated in name only. Of course the same could, arguably, be said of the other studios.

Ah, well. As Einstein put it: "Time will tell."

 

[Trishbot]

This is what you call consolidating boys and girls. No more browser based games, no more action pretending to be horror, and no more Medal of Honor. Now we just have to wait until that Mass Effect spin-off fails to set the world on fire, and we can kiss the real Bioware goodbye as well.

This, I have a feeling in my gut that there is going to be a big shift in the industry soon (though that may just be indigestion). EA games failing to meet sales goals time and time again this last release season, the boom of indie games that made a ton of money despite a budget that was only a fraction of what AAA developers spend, and the overall meh attitude towards the PS4 announcement.

I feel like big changes are going to happen soon, for better or worse I'm not sure yet.

Better AND Worse.

EA's entire business philosophy is about to implode on itself. They pour millions into games and expect millions of sales... no matter what they do. They talk about how gamers "love" microtransactions being shoved into their games, and online passes, and forced Origin accounts, and day-1 DLC, and always-on internet requirements...

And yet EA is losing more and more money each quarter, despite the fact they are putting more and more "get-rich-quick" schemes into their games, and homogenizing more and more games to be the same basic action games chasing after Call of Duty, Uncharted, and Gears of War. And yet, shock of all shocks, their strategy is NOT working out for them.

EA wants to have a homerun every time they release a game. It's not unreasonable to WANT a homerun, but it's unreasonable to always TRY for a homerun. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is just make a base hit and work your way back to homeplate. Games like Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age were not "homeruns", but they sold well regardless and made a profit and spawned spin-offs, sequels, and franchise-potential. But EA, in their greed, tried to change the very reasons the original games were successful and hoped that homogenizing them all into action games with dumbed down mechanics would result in higher sales (along with more online passes, forced multiplayer, and unnecessary social elements taking up time, budget, and manpower).

And yet, yes, the indie scene is flourishing with cheaper, smaller, and even BETTER games. Other companies out there are excelling at both turning a profit AND pleasing their fans and customers. Even some of the biggest games to release recently lacked all the pre-order, online-pass, multiplayer BS that EA literally touts as mandatory for all their upcoming games (Skyrim would like a word with you, EA).

I don't know if the entire industry will implode, but EA's business practices will definitely sink them if they don't change the way they make and develop games. And, here's a hint, more anti-consumer, self-serving, pie-in-the-sky big-budget action games aren't the answer.

 

[SonicWaffle]

UPDATE: In response to inquiries, Electronic Arts said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau addressed the issue a couple of weeks ago in the blog post entitled "Transition Is Our Friend [http://www.ea.com/news/transition-is-our-friend],"

Well that doesn't sound ominous at all. Transition is our friend, so enjoy your transition to the welfare office, and remember to smile!

 

[Church185]

snip

While I don't agree that companies shouldn't try to make a homerun every time (I would love to see companies try and make the best games they can possibly make, shoot for the stars and all that), you are definitely right that EA's strategy so far is just awful. They see things that are successful and making money (shooters like COD, microtransactions that work in games like LoL and TF2, social media integration and casual play from Popcap Games) then they try to integrate it into their own titles because they believe that those things will always be successful. EA doesn't realize that those things are only successful in certain situations, and instead try to shoehorn it into everything. I feel kind of bad for them really, everything they have released recently makes it look like they are grasping at straws, trying not to collapse. They need to listen to what gamers actually want, and not assume we want things because of sales figures.

I'm hoping they don't butcher Battlefield 4, yeah the last one was a bit of a departure from the rest of the series but I thought it was still a blast to play. Stuff like Medal of Honor: Warfighter have me convinced that they are going to run it into the ground.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

I was initially slightly concerned when I read the headline, but once I realised who it actually was and what they actually made my reaction had to go down to; "Oh. Those games. I am...vaguely aware they exist. OK."

Considering EA's rough patch at the minute, hopefully some good will come of these layoffs and closing and EA might actually end up getting their head on straight. Considering this is EA, however, I feel doubtful about it.

 

[Sixcess]

"Transition Is Our Friend [http://www.ea.com/news/transition-is-our-friend],"

Why is it that the very first thing this makes me think of is "The Computer is your friend. Trust the Computer."

It has that same hint of smiling menace to it.

 

[Trishbot]

While I don't agree that companies shouldn't try to make a homerun every time (I would love to see companies try and make the best games they can possibly make, shoot for the stars and all that), you are definitely right that EA's strategy so far is just awful.

I should rephrase. You SHOULD try to make a homerun every time (like in baseball), but you shouldn't EXPECT to make a homerun every time, and you shouldn't base your business, and the jobs of your employees, on a homerun every time. EA seems to be the people with zero plans for anything but homeruns, like the sheer notion of being a marginally successful game that makes a moderate profit is something they feel is the worst thing ever. So they put all their eggs in one basket, and when the game fails they blame the people who made the games they told them to make rather than realize it was their own stupid decisions they imposed on them.

"Mistakes are never bad if you learn from them." I'm not sure EA is learning.

 

[Callate]

So they would have been better off to continue doing their own thing at their own size and pace, rather than being absorbed by EA?

Well, that narrative doesn't sound familiar at all.

 

[Church185]

I should rephrase. You SHOULD try to make a homerun every time (like in baseball), but you shouldn't EXPECT to make a homerun every time, and you shouldn't base your business, and the jobs of your employees, on a homerun every time. EA seems to be the people with zero plans for anything but homeruns, like the sheer notion of being a marginally successful game that makes a moderate profit is something they feel is the worst thing ever. So they put all their eggs in one basket, and when the game fails they blame the people who made the games they told them to make rather than realize it was their own stupid decisions they imposed on them.

"Mistakes are never bad if you learn from them." I'm not sure EA is learning.

Agreed, EA needs to stick with what works when it comes to their established franchises.

 

[ShadowTrooper-A-E]

So what is this? Has the EA executives decided this is it's bi yearly dev studio execution show? First they might completely ax dead space and possibly visceral now a sub studio of Bioware you make me just ill EA you really really do.

 

[Deacon Cole]

So, wait. The name was changed from EA2D to Bioware San Francisco for what purpose? To fool people that their games were made by the actual Bioware and therefore of high quality? That's low even for a video game publisher.