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Electronic Arts Purchases BioWare, Pandemic
Kotaku is reporting that EA has purchased BioWare and Pandemic Studios, having offered some $620 million in cash to the Elevation Partners group to buy up VG Holding Corp. From the press release: "'We are truly excited by John Riccitiello's new vision for EA,' said Ray Muzyka, Co-founder and CEO of BioWare Corp. 'This vision is consistent with BioWare's focus on crafting the highest quality story-driven games in the world. It will enable us to further the careers of the passionate, creative and hard working teams at BioWare Edmonton and BioWare Austin.'"
(Pardon me for being cynical, but I can't help but be afraid that a company like EA, known for mediocrity, is going to drag down Bioware, known for excellence)
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
Yes. When they consolidate there will be several people passionate about eating and paying their bills who will be looking afield to continue their careers.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Still have your Resistance is Futile shirt? :D
Purchase Everything
</whisper>
Game over man, GAME OVER!
crazy dynamite monkey
I think you meant Bioshock.
I mean Bioware.
And this joke isn't funny even if it were.
Belief is the currency of delusion.
I'm sure they are feeling none too smart... them and their HALF A BILLION DOLLARS.
Fuck
Who is going to pick up carrying the torch for delivering high quality RPG games?
RIP Bioware...
Reapy
Good games make their bad games look worse.
Because whilst there are good games companies out there, there are games companies producing better games than EA can.
If EA can destroy everything better than it, then the standard is lower and EA games become the most attractive thing out there.
I, for one, have never seen anything *good* come of an EA acquisition. Anyone remember the Ultima games? EA bought Origin Systems, and the series promptly went from the brilliance of Ultimas III through VII Part 2 to the flops and incredible series ending disappointments that were Ultima VIII and IX. Both were buggy, lacking in plot, and virtually unplayable. It was terrible to have such a wonderful, complex continuing story terminate with a muffled whimper.
EA gives Maxis quite a bit of free rein, and they're loath to kill off that golden goose. I should hope Bioware gets the same treatment.
Pandemic on the other hand is basically borg-fodder.
Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
Some of EA's finer moments:
Imagine SimCity, only take out the simulation elements, dumb it down, give it a lame 3d engine, and hire the mediocre studio behind the failure that is Caesar IV to design it. That's exactly what EA is doing with SimCity Societies. One of the most venerable PC game series of all time is reduced to the uninspired, inoffensive, mildly-likable crap that EA specializes in. If Maxis were still around, I doubt we'd be seeing this.
Then there's the Westwood. EA dissolved the studio and released C&C: Generals. It had no live action cut scenes, no creative and silly weapons, and no enigmatic bald men bent on world domination. It was a generic RTS featuring the USA, China, and some Arab quasi-nationstate fighting across desert landscapes dotted with mosques - the same setting used by every Clancy knockoff.
(Just because you build a city doesn't make it SimCity. Likewise, just because you command a modern army doesn't make it C&C.)
And let's not forget the Battlefield series. DICE revolutionized online FPS gaming with BF1942. To this day, it's still one of my favorite games. Battlefield 2, however, is a system hog that could teach Vista a thing or two. Post-release support is abysmal and the game is still riddled with bugs. BF2142 is for all purposes a half-assed futuristic mod based on the same crummy BF2 engine...and it features in-game ads.
I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I've been playing PC games ever since SimCity 2000 in 1993 and have witnessed EA steadily bastardize so many PC games I know and love. They make boatloads of cash from their exploitation games (Madden, The Sims) and then buy out respectable studios. Am I cynical for thinking that BioWare and Pandemic will go to shit? Based on my experience with EA, it's only a matter of time.
Baldur's Gate would have been a much better game if it had more basketball and football in it.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Back in 80s, EA attracted a number of top game developers and was (to many) synonymous with interesting, solid gameplay. MULE and Archon are two clear standouts published by EA, but a complete list of hits both big and small from "back in the days" is pretty lengthy (Bard's Tale, Mail Order Monsters, the various Construction Set games, Starflight, Seven Cities of Gold, etc.)
EA itself may not have "made" these games, but its distribution strategy and relationship with developers back then did a lot to get good games in the hands of eager players.
Depends on what you mean by the last few years. Going from 2000, the year that SSX came out, the original IP that has been published by EA has been:
Alice, Kessen, Nox, X Squad, Black & White, Cel Damage, Undying, Majestic, Motor City Online, Sub Command, Earth and Beyond, Freedom Force, Freekstyle, Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat, Ghosthunter, Loaded, Armies of Exigo, The Urbz, and Knights of Honor. That doesn't count licensed IP that was unique for the same time period. (Harry Potter, Batman, Battle for Middle Earth etc...)
Consider that Bungie (another innovative studio popular among gamers) was absorbed by Microsoft back before Halo 1, but just recently (Oct 1) took back its independence. And despite producing 3 of M$'s biggest cash cows, they still seem to have their humor and character intact. Here's hoping BioWare can do the same.
The Sims came out after the buyout by EA and the expansion packs were all done by other teams inside of Maxis courtesy of EA (sorry, no reference). If you think about it, the base games show the same style as earlier maxis games while the expansions stink of EA's sequel/expansion-style franchise milking.
I had a Star Wars reference too:
As the truth begins to emerge...
Bioware: "That wasn't part of the deal! You said you would leave us alone!"
EA: "I am altering the terms of our agreement. Pray I don't alter them any further!"
I...I'm attacking the darkness!
I'm not amazingly informed on the matter, but Electronic Art is also a publisher, is it not? In that case, Bioware would be rid of Atari from this point and on (not counting their older, Atari-exclusive franchises). That can only mean good things. As bad as EA is, Atari was worse.
Statement: Master, would you like to make a trip to EA headquarters? Clarification: For research purposes of course. Unrelated Query: Have you seen my blaster rifle?
I really liked playing Star Wars: Battlefront I & II and Destroy All Humans! I & II, and this news is like a poke in the eye. I can't recall an EA game that I enjoyed playing since...oh...Nightfire, which was released 5 years ago now. In fact, I thought that all EA released now was Sims expansion packs and sport games. I also dislike the way they're reputed to treat their employees.
At the end of the day, it's the way of business....the small ones either grow or get consumed by a larger company. With the cost of developing games getting so high, there's not too much that can happen with that. Unfortunately, that means that game studios start resembling movie studios - with huge $$ being invested, they're less likely to go with something original and more likely to develop sequels or copies. The smaller companies may release interesting games, but they're not as likely to be a success. A shame.
Between the falling angel and the rising ape
If Bioware stays as its own studio, and EA just acts as their backer, that may not be such a bad thing. Relic is owned by THQ, but as far as I know, they are still an independant entity. This could then just mean that Bioware ends up getting more reliable funding, and ends up churning out games in a more regular fashion. In addition, Bioware is not exactly known for extravagant salaries, so this may end up getting a bunch of them better pay. On top of that the Austin studio will get much better backing for the MMO.
If EA intends to get heavily involved in Bioware's day to day operations, than Bioware as an independant studio may not exist for too much longer. EA already has studio's in Vancouver and Montreal, and do not really need extra floor space. If that happens, I expect that alot of Bioware's core employees will just quit and form a new studio. Many of them have lived in Edmonton a long time and probably have some pretty deep roots in the community. Plenty may want to leave for milder weather in Vancouver though.
What will be really interesting is to see what Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk end up doing. If they stay with their Studio in Edmonton and stay in control of day to day operations, things should be fine. If they take their money and run, well they earned it.
END COMMUNICATION
EA was already the publisher for Mercs 2 even before the aquisition. You think Lucas is a better publisher? Don't get me started...
It's just like asking musicians to stop selling out to the RIAA, at the end of the day most of us will go for the money.
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." I really hope that they don't destroy the NWN and D & D games, but they probably will. :[
"Time is nothing; timing is everything."
Bioware was a lot bigger than Bethesda, and they just got bought. In fact I would consider Bioware to be probably the biggest 'independent' developer around. So I don't think Bethesda is immune. To quote Futurama, "Maybe you don't understand just how rich he is. In fact, I think I'd better put on a monocle."
Random and weird software I've written.
A few people have mentioned D&D games... Bioware is not making D&D games anymore. NWN 2 (like KOTOR 2) was designed by Obsidian, not Bioware. Bioware seems to have gotten frustrated with the limitations of using others' IP, which is why they are using their own IP for the games they are working on now, like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Dragon Age--not some future D&D game--is their spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and NWN.
Lets just hope they don't touch Mass Effect, or else the cover will look like this: New cover for Mass Effect
Now I think we can look forward to the next Bioware games having unskippable corporate spinning logos for 5 minutes before the game starts up. Yay.
EA - It's In The (every fucking) Game.