CGTalk - EA acquires Bioware

Trenox

10-11-2007, 09:43 PM

Damnit what a pity =( Bioware was one of those few gaming companies that truly stood for consistent quality for the PC platform...
I hope EA doesnt kill dragon age completely and dumb it down for console.. (which im sure they will)

AJE

10-11-2007, 09:49 PM

Wow. I'm a little disappointed in BioWare... but cash is king, and it's always business first no matter what you hear.

Now all we need is an announcment from Microsoft that they're replacing Bungie with EA and the world will be in total disarray.

Rudity

10-11-2007, 09:55 PM

To the artists I've met and worked with here at EAC that left to work at bioware:

Welcome back :)

Lunatique

10-11-2007, 10:46 PM

Have to say I'm disappointed too. I just hope this doesn't change anything about the level of quality and innovation we've been enjoying from Bioware all these years.

Pinoy McGee

10-11-2007, 11:46 PM

WOOOHOOO !!! EA Edmonton

Seriously, shocking news. Spent 7 years of my life at Bio. Flipside of the coin, I hope more developers would open shop in the city.

.

lildragon

10-12-2007, 01:01 AM

WOOOHOOO !!! EA Edmonton

I hope more developers would open shop in the city.

.

Now that would be ideal!

~t

Shaderhacker

10-12-2007, 03:45 AM

I just hope that EA doesn't affect Bioware's creative teams. If anything, they should learn from them and make better story-driven games.

-M

heavyness

10-12-2007, 04:29 AM

kinda scray. we can only hope the teams at these studios stick to their guns and continue doing what they've been doing... making great games.

but i have noticed EA has been getting better. when they bought Criterion Games, i was worried the Burnout series was going to go downhill [which it has a little, but looks like the new one brings it back to its roots]. also, Skate doesn't feel like an EA game and it's a great competitor to the Tony Hawk series.

hopefully the age of "studios being king" are among us and they no longer let publishers/parent companies push them around.

DoubleSupercool

10-12-2007, 06:58 AM

After hearing Dr Ray Muzyka speak at a conference in November 2005, I was under the impression that Bioware was forming a joint venture with a private equity firm, Elevation Partners, that would provide capital investment allowing them to essentially be their own publisher as well as developer . . . I recall thinking this was excellent as they could essentially be independent and not beholden to a particular publisher.

Seems like that has fallen by the wayside which is a real shame.

Still, they have always produced quality products and I can't see that changing. Dr Muzyka's talk was *very* interesting and he appeared to be an exceedingly "on the ball" kind of guy. Definitely someone you would want to work for and with.

DrBalthar

10-12-2007, 08:25 AM

Yuhu more Zeitgeist-Mega-World-Domination-Cooperation acquisition. People it is time to wake up!

Solothores

10-12-2007, 11:49 AM

Bioware devoured by creative-eaters Larry Probst and John Riccitello... Oh dear, seems like I got the bad ending... *reloads*

inguatu

10-12-2007, 03:35 PM

Bioware devoured by creative-eaters Larry Probst and John Riccitello... Oh dear, seems like I got the bad ending... *reloads*

man.. calling people out by name.. that could equal bad karma.

Ramseus

10-12-2007, 04:33 PM

Didn't see that one coming... I'll try to stay optimistic though, Crytek wouldn't seem to have been murdered by EA so hopefully Bioware won't be either.

ChewyPixels

10-12-2007, 04:50 PM

Oh boy, here we go again. So who's your next target EA?

Vanderer

10-12-2007, 05:02 PM

I guess this aquisition could mean one of two things:

a)EA decided to step away from producing same generic games over and over again, and invest in quality and innovation

b)We just lost one of the best dev studios in the world

In favor of b) - EA got history (Westwood, anyone?)

As for a), well.. Will Wright brought them so much money, they are now letting him do whatever he damn pleases... Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk may just be lucky the same way.

PerryDS

10-12-2007, 05:06 PM

From what I gather, there are pros and cons to this association. There are many projects afoot that are gathering strength in Bioware, and if EA takes a hands-off approach then some great products may arise from it. Whether Greg Zeschuk remains with the business is hard to say, but I suspect that the future success of bioware games could be entirely dependent on him remaining and steering the ship.

kiaran

10-12-2007, 05:10 PM

I'm not much of an economist ,or an alarmist. That said, EA's practice of buying up studio after studio seems to be a bit anti-competition and monopolistic. I hope this is doesn't have an overall ill effect on the healthy competition that is currently driving the innovation we all enjoy.

Solothores

10-12-2007, 05:16 PM

However, to put a more positive perspective into this... "thing": Baldur's Gate III doesn't look so dead anymore. :D

To be serious for a moment: USD 860 million is a lot of buck. I wonder if EA is constructing a "worthy" opponent to confront Blizzard in the MMOG market.

Cheers
S.

bentllama

10-12-2007, 06:01 PM

HEY BIOWARE AND PANDEMIC EMPLOYEES...

BUNGIE is independent...come work for us!

ChewyPixels

10-12-2007, 06:03 PM

HEY BIOWARE AND PANDEMIC EMPLOYEES...

BUNGIE is independent...come work for us!

LOL! YES!! :thumbsup:

Duhast

10-12-2007, 06:07 PM

Great news, now we'll have Mass Effect 2008, Mass Effect 2009, Mass Effect 2010... and don't forget Mass Effect 2008 Street

PerryDS

10-12-2007, 06:42 PM

Don't quote me on this but there may be a deal brewing between Bioware and Lucasarts to do a MMORG on Starwars. Bioware, heresay, has hired some of the top guns that were involved with World of Warcraft.

_vine_

10-13-2007, 01:39 AM

Bungie watch out, you're next. No, I'm not kidding.

bentllama

10-13-2007, 04:14 AM

Bungie watch out, you're next. No, I'm not kidding.

nope. not going to happen.

Kid Dynomite

10-13-2007, 10:11 PM

Great news, now we'll have Mass Effect 2008, Mass Effect 2009, Mass Effect 2010... and don't forget Mass Effect 2008 Street

Well, Bioware currently offers 7 different versions of Neverwinter Nights, 4 versions of Baldur's Gate, and 2 versions of MDK2. So perhaps they're right up their alley.

JeroenDStout

10-13-2007, 10:14 PM

To the artists I've met and worked with here at EAC that left to work at bioware:

Welcome back :)
That was a positively creepy remark, even if unintended :)

Apoclypse

10-14-2007, 12:17 AM

The only positive thing about this is that we may get more cross platform titles from Bioware now. I hope to see a KOTOR title for the PS3. I also hope they keep releasing titles for Linux like they have in the past.

morimitsu

10-14-2007, 12:48 AM

Oh boy, here we go again. So who's your next target EA?

What about a japanese studio, EA?

Konami? Sega? Namco? Capcom?

At the pace they are going, who knows...

AJE

10-14-2007, 12:50 AM

Ubisoft....

bluecanvas

10-14-2007, 04:33 AM

Great news, now we'll have Mass Effect 2008, Mass Effect 2009, Mass Effect 2010... and don't forget Mass Effect 2008 Street

I'm looking forward to Neverwinterfield 2142, Medal of Baldur and Jade Empire Carbon already. Maybe they'll even make a DS version. :D:deal:

subtlebluetones

10-15-2007, 12:06 AM

nope. not going to happen.

yea cos your tied up in contracts with ms lol:scream:

bentllama

10-15-2007, 04:48 AM

yea cos your tied up in contracts with ms lol:scream:

actually, working with Peter Jackson feels pretty liberating...

eek

10-15-2007, 02:32 PM

HEY BIOWARE AND PANDEMIC EMPLOYEES...

BUNGIE is independent...come work for us!

LOL!

It's amazing to be seeing these posts and comments from the inside. And no comment if your asking.

cheers,

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