Ah yes, and the megacorps akin to the TV and film industry begin to emerge. I fear for Bioware (always listed as one of the top 100 employers in Canada. I'm not sure how they've handled Mythic, but now I'm actually taking interest as now it applies to something I care about (spoken like a true american ).
Man, I am pretty tired of hearing about EA taking over great studios. Its never long before the studio name is dissolved and its simply EA who's making the game. Thats usually when the games start to suck too. I'm betting Bioware becomes EA: Canada within the year. Origin Systems...gone. Westwood Studios....RIP Maxis.....doesn't even get to make the next Sim City Mythic.....days are numbered
on an amusing side note...what is Obsidian gonna do now, if they can't keep making sequals to all of BioWares games (they made KoToR 2 and NWN2). So far, that's the only plus side to this, next to Atari being shut out.
This month is getting weirder and weirder- I can't take it any longer! . I hope CCP never sells out. They are my last hope.
CCP sold out long before any of these companies did...got bought up by White Wolf Games so they didn't have to hire talent for their MMO...you really are out of the loop
CCP bought White Wolf
for the rest of you...you may as well say good bye to BioWare's MMO, unless they changed course EA's online baby is UO and they cancel anything that'll harm their cash cow.
Actually, I'd say UO better watch it. If the bioware mmo turns out to be a big hit, 10 year old UO will get tossed aside like an old rag. That's the EA style.
This month is getting weirder and weirder- I can't take it any longer! . I hope CCP never sells out. They are my last hope.
CCP sold out long before any of these companies did...got bought up by White Wolf Games so they didn't have to hire talent for their MMO...you really are out of the loop
for the rest of you...you may as well say good bye to BioWare's MMO, unless they changed course EA's online baby is UO and they cancel anything that'll harm their cash cow.
Otherway around. CCP merged white wolf. Quote from their press release "White Wolf will be operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CCP".
This is the END of Bioware. Within months most of their talent will be long gone off to probably a startup (hopefully), much like Obsidian came from Black Isle, maybe the Bioware devs can form their own indie house.
EA bought Bioware, IMHO, to get ahold of their MMO team, largely made up of Pre-CU SWG developers, such as former producers Gordon Walton and Rich Vogel. My guess is they put them on fixing the problems with WAR that caused them to have to abruptly cancel the beta. I can't see those guys wanting to work for EA though, because EA is perhaps the only company even MORE narrow minded than SOE. Bioware has basically become what they left SOE over. What they do will be interesting.
Existing Bioware IP will be milked till it's dead, like all EA acquisitions. Considering that Bioware was largely a partner of EA rivals Microsoft and LucasArts, this move has more to do with weakening competition, and EA was willing to spend nearly a billion to do it.
EA is long past the point of being able to sustain any sort of creativity. As a company they are successful based only on inertia and sports licenses. Madden 2007 is a hit despite being worse than Madden 2006, for example, but no one else can make a NFL game, so your alternative is to go pound sand...
The first time I see KOTOR, NWN2, or any other classic Bioware title with an EA logo on the box, I'm going to throw up, then cry. The chances of Bioware ever again producing anything as good as those games again has dropped to somewhere between 0 and -1.
--- Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of SOE?
Man, I am pretty tired of hearing about EA taking over great studios. Its never long before the studio name is dissolved and its simply EA who's making the game. Thats usually when the games start to suck too. I'm betting Bioware becomes EA: Canada within the year. Origin Systems...gone. Westwood Studios....RIP Maxis.....doesn't even get to make the next Sim City Mythic.....days are numbered
on an amusing side note...what is Obsidian gonna do now, if they can't keep making sequals to all of BioWares games (they made KoToR 2 and NWN2). So far, that's the only plus side to this, next to Atari being shut out.
If anything, Obsidian comes out STRONGER in this, IMHO... Their close relations with the old Bioware (RIP) and the games they worked with and their partners (such as Atari and LEC) will make them the likely big winner. They will get MORE business out of this. If I were those companies I'd deal with Obsidian instead of EA Edmonton, uh, EA Bioware.
I'd not be surprised if Obsidian acquires fleeing Bioware devs as well.
I just hope they aren't the next target assimilated by the Borg. Truly, EA is the only gaming company that is arguably MORE evil than SOE.
--- Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of SOE?
It's funny reading the Bioware devs posting on the Bioware forums spinning this as a positive thing... heh. It will be hilarious in 6 months when half of them are looking for new jobs because EA is only interested in Bioware Austin and the MMO. Bioware Edmonton will be a skeleton crew devoted to churning out crap based on Bioware's IPs.
We've all seen this even in recent history. A gaming company that's screwed, but hasn't realized it yet. The ship is sinking and the Bioware band is still playing.
---------- Life sucks, buy a helmet.
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
Well that's crap news. EA are the "Borg" of the Star Trek world - resistance is futile.
It is a sad day in gaming today. Man are they going to butcher those studios now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =The best bash.org quote ever= Curt teh Juggler: our graduation ceremony was today, and right when some gamer nerd got his diploma, someone in the audience played the zelda "get item" music and he did the zelda spin-hold-out-item stance Curt teh Juggler: it was quite possibly the most amazing thing ever.
Man, that seriously sucks. I have heard from somebody who worked for EA that they treat their employees like sh*t. I also don't really like EA games in general. Man, what the hell is going on?
This is the END of Bioware. Within months most of their talent will be long gone off to probably a startup (hopefully), much like Obsidian came from Black Isle, maybe the Bioware devs can form their own indie house. EA bought Bioware, IMHO, to get ahold of their MMO team, largely made up of Pre-CU SWG developers, such as former producers Gordon Walton and Rich Vogel. My guess is they put them on fixing the problems with WAR that caused them to have to abruptly cancel the beta. I can't see those guys wanting to work for EA though, because EA is perhaps the only company even MORE narrow minded than SOE. Bioware has basically become what they left SOE over. What they do will be interesting. Atleast get your facts straight, they did not cancel beta. EA Mythic is taking a long break between Beta Phases to apply changes according to Beta Player Feed back, adding in new areas, and the Elven Races. Plus they're preparing for the Guild Phase of Beta which starts in December when the servers come back online. Contray to many's beliefs this has been done before. Bioware's MMO team have their own MMO IP they're working on secretly still. Its one of the reasons EA the vicious demon that is wanted Bioware. Existing Bioware IP will be milked till it's dead, like all EA acquisitions. Considering that Bioware was largely a partner of EA rivals Microsoft and LucasArts, this move has more to do with weakening competition, and EA was willing to spend nearly a billion to do it. EA is long past the point of being able to sustain any sort of creativity. As a company they are successful based only on inertia and sports licenses. Madden 2007 is a hit despite being worse than Madden 2006, for example, but no one else can make a NFL game, so your alternative is to go pound sand... The first time I see KOTOR, NWN2, or any other classic Bioware title with an EA logo on the box, I'm going to throw up, then cry. The chances of Bioware ever again producing anything as good as those games again has dropped to somewhere between 0 and -1. KOTOR2 and NWN2 were done by Obisidian NOT Bioware. But I agree its sickening. Honestly EA destroys more companies and game IPs then they've ever saved.
I just gotta stay strong..i love bioware to much to boycott their games even if I won't touch an actual in house EA game.
btw if the beta was cancelled the boards would be littered with people from the actual beta saying why and what was wrong and how crappy the game is. So far everyone is mum which usually signals its going to be damn excellent.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
Yeah I know that two wrongs don't make a right but . . .
the next time folks start to really bash on SoE ( only as far as games go) they should really take a step back and think about EA. As far as I know SoE hasn't killed anything yet completely and I am not so sure that the SWG bloodbath was all their fault. Obviously Gods and Heroes was a lost cause before SoE got involved.
Customer service may suck and stupid ideas may be launched in game but when we come down to the brass tacks as gamers the most important thing is allowing for variety. If enough games are allowed to LIVE then there is a better chance for there to be some title that you enjoy being available.
Two more interesting tidbits from the conference call that followed the news release:
- The CFO of EA expects games from the two newly aquired companies to generate of 300 million dollars in income during both the '09 and '10 fiscal years. It did not say if that was expected profit, or net.
-He also said that number(300 million) would increase in the back half of that time table (meaning '10 fiscal year) when the Bioware MMO is released.
For clarification, the '09 fiscal year starts in April of '08....which means he's saying they won't be releasing the mysterious mmo project until at least spring of '09 (most likely later)
Yeah I know that two wrongs don't make a right but . . .
the next time folks start to really bash on SoE ( only as far as games go) they should really take a step back and think about EA. As far as I know SoE hasn't killed anything yet completely and I am not so sure that the SWG bloodbath was all their fault. Obviously Gods and Heroes was a lost cause before SoE got involved. Customer service may suck and stupid ideas may be launched in game but when we come down to the brass tacks as gamers the most important thing is allowing for variety. If enough games are allowed to LIVE then there is a better chance for there to be some title that you enjoy being available.
I'm more concerned about the possibility of no true independent game developers by the end of the decade. The market is being gobbled up, mostly by these two companies.
EA is paying over 850 million USD in cash and stock to buy VG Holding Corp., which is a portfolio company owned by Elevation Partners.
Elevation Partners bought both Bioware and Pandemic in '05 and combined them to create BioWare/Pandemic Studios.
For THAT much money, over 3/4th of a BILLION dollars...
EA will NOT be scrapping or altering Bioware/Pandemic in any significant way. They bought them because they make good products that make lots of money. EA just wants a piece of their pie, NOT to change the way either studio does business....
Unless Bioware/Pandemic start releasing crappy products that don't make money, I can gaurantee that EA won't lay I finger on any Bioware/Pandemic product in development.
BioWare / Pandemic were NOT indy companies. Never independant as they were privately held companies owned by a portfolio management firm. Maybe they were before they were bought in 2005, but since then both companies have been very corporately owned and operated.
This EA deal mean nothing to Bioware/Pandemic. They just have to have to pay different stock holders now. Only difference.
EA is paying over 850 million USD in cash and stock to buy VG Holding Corp., which is a portfolio company owned by Elevation Partners. Elevation Partners bought both Bioware and Pandemic in '05 and combined them to create BioWare/Pandemic Studios. For THAT much money, over 3/4th of a BILLION dollars... EA will NOT be scrapping or altering Bioware/Pandemic in any significant way. They bought them because they make good products that make lots of money. EA just wants a piece of their pie, NOT to change the way either studio does business.... Unless Bioware/Pandemic start releasing crappy products that don't make money, I can gaurantee that EA won't lay I finger on any Bioware/Pandemic product in development. BioWare / Pandemic were NOT indy companies. Never independant as they were privately held companies owned by a portfolio management firm. Maybe they were before they were bought in 2005, but since then both companies have been very corporately owned and operated. This EA deal mean nothing to Bioware/Pandemic. They just have to have to pay different stock holders now. Only difference.
I do not see this as a bad thing at all really. However I can understand the initial concern. Yes I realise that EA did cancel Earth and Beyond. But that was a long time ago and it is human nature to learn from past mistakes. I personally feel that EA did this move not to change Bioware, but to add their expertese in the field of RPGs. Much like when they added Mythic for their MMORPG experience.
I think that their relationship with the Mythic team is a perfect example of how they have changed their thinking process on things. From what I have seen, EA has pretty much let the EA Mythic team do their thing without dictating things every step of the way. And they have actually had them help out with Ultima Online. If they cancelled things just because it interfered with their cash cow(UO) they would have cancelled Dark Age of Camelot instead of letting Mythic continue to improve on it. And Warhammer Online would also be cancelled.
I actually think that there is a very good chance that the Bioware mmorpg might see the light of day. It seems to me that EA is setting themselves up to have a large stable of mmorpgs much like SOE and NCSoft. Which is a smart move in my opinion. This day and age it is not wise to place all your eggs in one basket, especially with how competitive the mmorpg market is.
Comments
Now with 57.3% more flames!
Remember Earth and Beyond!!! Enough said!!
Ah yes, and the megacorps akin to the TV and film industry begin to emerge. I fear for Bioware (always listed as one of the top 100 employers in Canada. I'm not sure how they've handled Mythic, but now I'm actually taking interest as now it applies to something I care about (spoken like a true american
).
Exactly. Death to any mmo from EA
An Once again... Noooooooooooooooooo.
My Hatered for EA just Grows, They have Buchered so many companies. Anyone rememeber Westwood?
CCP bought White Wolf
for the rest of you...you may as well say good bye to BioWare's MMO, unless they changed course EA's online baby is UO and they cancel anything that'll harm their cash cow.
Actually, I'd say UO better watch it. If the bioware mmo turns out to be a big hit, 10 year old UO will get tossed aside like an old rag. That's the EA style.
CCP sold out long before any of these companies did...got bought up by White Wolf Games so they didn't have to hire talent for their MMO...you really are out of the loopfor the rest of you...you may as well say good bye to BioWare's MMO, unless they changed course EA's online baby is UO and they cancel anything that'll harm their cash cow.
Otherway around. CCP merged white wolf. Quote from their press release "White Wolf will be operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CCP".
... transmitted on 100% recycled electrons ...
Oh my, there goes Bioware down the ole crap hole. Another good studio bites the dust.
Everyone knows EA has that midas touch with game companies, everything they touch turns to lead.
This is the END of Bioware. Within months most of their talent will be long gone off to probably a startup (hopefully), much like Obsidian came from Black Isle, maybe the Bioware devs can form their own indie house.
EA bought Bioware, IMHO, to get ahold of their MMO team, largely made up of Pre-CU SWG developers, such as former producers Gordon Walton and Rich Vogel. My guess is they put them on fixing the problems with WAR that caused them to have to abruptly cancel the beta. I can't see those guys wanting to work for EA though, because EA is perhaps the only company even MORE narrow minded than SOE. Bioware has basically become what they left SOE over. What they do will be interesting.
Existing Bioware IP will be milked till it's dead, like all EA acquisitions. Considering that Bioware was largely a partner of EA rivals Microsoft and LucasArts, this move has more to do with weakening competition, and EA was willing to spend nearly a billion to do it.
EA is long past the point of being able to sustain any sort of creativity. As a company they are successful based only on inertia and sports licenses. Madden 2007 is a hit despite being worse than Madden 2006, for example, but no one else can make a NFL game, so your alternative is to go pound sand...
The first time I see KOTOR, NWN2, or any other classic Bioware title with an EA logo on the box, I'm going to throw up, then cry. The chances of Bioware ever again producing anything as good as those games again has dropped to somewhere between 0 and -1.
---
Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of SOE?
The Cabal Knows
If anything, Obsidian comes out STRONGER in this, IMHO... Their close relations with the old Bioware (RIP) and the games they worked with and their partners (such as Atari and LEC) will make them the likely big winner. They will get MORE business out of this. If I were those companies I'd deal with Obsidian instead of EA Edmonton, uh, EA Bioware.
I'd not be surprised if Obsidian acquires fleeing Bioware devs as well.
I just hope they aren't the next target assimilated by the Borg. Truly, EA is the only gaming company that is arguably MORE evil than SOE.
---
Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of SOE?
The Cabal Knows
Talk about the year that independent game development died...
It's funny reading the Bioware devs posting on the Bioware forums spinning this as a positive thing... heh. It will be hilarious in 6 months when half of them are looking for new jobs because EA is only interested in Bioware Austin and the MMO. Bioware Edmonton will be a skeleton crew devoted to churning out crap based on Bioware's IPs.
We've all seen this even in recent history. A gaming company that's screwed, but hasn't realized it yet. The ship is sinking and the Bioware band is still playing.
----------
Life sucks, buy a helmet.
Well that's crap news. EA are the "Borg" of the Star Trek world - resistance is futile.
So much for them taking over Eidos too.
It is a sad day in gaming today. Man are they going to butcher those studios now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=The best bash.org quote ever=
Curt teh Juggler: our graduation ceremony was today, and right when some gamer nerd got his diploma, someone in the audience played the zelda "get item" music and he did the zelda spin-hold-out-item stance
Curt teh Juggler: it was quite possibly the most amazing thing ever.
But hey, at least Bungie went indy and ditched Microsoft.
Man, that seriously sucks. I have heard from somebody who worked for EA that they treat their employees like sh*t. I also don't really like EA games in general. Man, what the hell is going on?
I just gotta stay strong..i love bioware to much to boycott their games even if I won't touch an actual in house EA game.
btw if the beta was cancelled the boards would be littered with people from the actual beta saying why and what was wrong and how crappy the game is. So far everyone is mum which usually signals its going to be damn excellent.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
Yeah I know that two wrongs don't make a right but . . .
the next time folks start to really bash on SoE ( only as far as games go) they should really take a step back and think about EA. As far as I know SoE hasn't killed anything yet completely and I am not so sure that the SWG bloodbath was all their fault. Obviously Gods and Heroes was a lost cause before SoE got involved.
Customer service may suck and stupid ideas may be launched in game but when we come down to the brass tacks as gamers the most important thing is allowing for variety. If enough games are allowed to LIVE then there is a better chance for there to be some title that you enjoy being available.
Two more interesting tidbits from the conference call that followed the news release:
- The CFO of EA expects games from the two newly aquired companies to generate of 300 million dollars in income during both the '09 and '10 fiscal years. It did not say if that was expected profit, or net.
-He also said that number(300 million) would increase in the back half of that time table (meaning '10 fiscal year) when the Bioware MMO is released.
For clarification, the '09 fiscal year starts in April of '08....which means he's saying they won't be releasing the mysterious mmo project until at least spring of '09 (most likely later)
I'm more concerned about the possibility of no true independent game developers by the end of the decade. The market is being gobbled up, mostly by these two companies.
EA is paying over 850 million USD in cash and stock to buy VG Holding Corp., which is a portfolio company owned by Elevation Partners.
Elevation Partners bought both Bioware and Pandemic in '05 and combined them to create BioWare/Pandemic Studios.
For THAT much money, over 3/4th of a BILLION dollars...
EA will NOT be scrapping or altering Bioware/Pandemic in any significant way. They bought them because they make good products that make lots of money. EA just wants a piece of their pie, NOT to change the way either studio does business....
Unless Bioware/Pandemic start releasing crappy products that don't make money, I can gaurantee that EA won't lay I finger on any Bioware/Pandemic product in development.
BioWare / Pandemic were NOT indy companies. Never independant as they were privately held companies owned by a portfolio management firm. Maybe they were before they were bought in 2005, but since then both companies have been very corporately owned and operated.
This EA deal mean nothing to Bioware/Pandemic. They just have to have to pay different stock holders now. Only difference.
Pretty good catch all statement. I agree.
I do not see this as a bad thing at all really. However I can understand the initial concern. Yes I realise that EA did cancel Earth and Beyond. But that was a long time ago and it is human nature to learn from past mistakes. I personally feel that EA did this move not to change Bioware, but to add their expertese in the field of RPGs. Much like when they added Mythic for their MMORPG experience.
I think that their relationship with the Mythic team is a perfect example of how they have changed their thinking process on things. From what I have seen, EA has pretty much let the EA Mythic team do their thing without dictating things every step of the way. And they have actually had them help out with Ultima Online. If they cancelled things just because it interfered with their cash cow(UO) they would have cancelled Dark Age of Camelot instead of letting Mythic continue to improve on it. And Warhammer Online would also be cancelled.
I actually think that there is a very good chance that the Bioware mmorpg might see the light of day. It seems to me that EA is setting themselves up to have a large stable of mmorpgs much like SOE and NCSoft. Which is a smart move in my opinion. This day and age it is not wise to place all your eggs in one basket, especially with how competitive the mmorpg market is.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Damnit.
We'll never see a Baldurs Gate or NeverWinter Nights quality RPG from EA/Bioware.
And i guess any new user-created content for NWN 2 will be banned now too.
shyt.