Latest news with #DragonAge:TheVeilguard
Metro
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
EA refused to let BioWare make a Dragon Age: Origins remake claims developer
The failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard has put EA off from making any more entries in the series, including a remaster of the original. There's little point in us saying that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a really good action role-player, because its fate was sealed just weeks after release, when it failed to meet EA's expectations, following a disastrous marketing campaign. Despite being the first new entry in the series for a decade, there was no buzz at all around the game, from the moment it was first unveiled – with a trailer that many fans compared to Fortnite in terms of its visuals and sense of humour. Needless to say, that's not how anyone imagined the game's long-awaited comeback, with its failure leading EA to think it had been right all along and that the game should've been a live service title. What they've also apparently decided is that there's not going to be any remaster or remake of Dragon Age: Origins from 2009. It's often forgotten now, but BioWare were the creators of the first two Baldur's Gate games and Origins was, at the time, considered a spiritual sequel, and the closest thing there'd be to a Baldur's Gate 3 until this generation. In 2021, BioWare produced remasters of the entire Mass Effect trilogy, despite the sci-fi series always having sold less than Dragon Age, and it seemed to do very well. The success of Mass Effect Legendary Edition led many, including developers at BioWare, to imagine something similar could happen with Dragon Age, despite no one liking Dragon Age 2. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Unfortunately though, Mark Darrah, who was executive producer on the first three Dragon Age games, has revealed that while BioWare did pitch the idea of a remake to EA, they were refused the budget necessary, for that or a remaster. Darrah left BioWare in 2021, long before The Veilguard was released, but while speaking to YouTuber MrMattyPlays, he said that Mass Effect Legendary Edition was the first time in a long while that there was 'positivity and optimism around BioWare and their games.' More Trending He explains how, for unknown reasons, EA doesn't usually like remasters and because Dragon Age was made with its own propriety engine – unlike Mass Effect, which was made in Unreal Engine – it would be a considerably more difficult game to rework. Especially as the sequel used another completely different engine. That ruled out a trilogy remaster, but BioWare's plan was to find a fan mod team that could create a remake of Origins from scratch. However, that needed more money than EA was prepared to give, and it never happened. Ironically, the only hope for Dragon Age now is that the next Mass Effect, which BioWare has been working on for years, is a massive hit and somehow rejuvenates interest in its sister series. However, if it's received the same way Dragon Age: The Veilguard was, then things could be looking very grim for the veteran role-playing developer… Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Road Rash Is the best Sega Mega Drive racing game – Reader's Feature MORE: Phil Spencer favourite Hexen returns in new Nightdive remaster compilation MORE: Nintendo rips off Playdate console in patent for new Switch 2 accessory
Metro
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Games Inbox: Will there ever be a new Mass Effect game?
The Tuesday letters page worries that younger people are no longer interested in console games, as one reader looks forward to MachineGames' Quake reboot. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ BioWare Effect Considering how badly Dragon Age: The Veilguard did I'm honestly surprised that EA has not shut down BioWare yet. They're obviously dead meat if Mass Effect 4 isn't a hit but will they even make it that far? We've still not seen any gameplay or got any hint about when there'll be a reveal or, god forbid, a release date. I can't believe that a series that seemed so strong in the Xbox 360 era has fallen this far, to the point where younger gamers probably aren't even going to know what it is. Mass Effect 2 is hands down one of the best games of that generation, as far as I'm concerned, but it's all been downhill since then, especially with Andromeda. I really hope that BioWare pull it out of the bag and I pity them for the pressure they must be under. The worse thing is I have a feeling EA are only going along with it all in order to get the TV deal with Amazon. Could this be the first example of a game series being saved by its TV show? I guess you could argue Fallout but that was at least always going to get made, just not necessarily this quick. Igor Old man's game I don't want to come across as an old man but I'm not surprised to find out that the average age of console gamers is so old. In my experience, kids and teenagers just aren't that interested in traditional games. All they play is mobile games (because they're free) and PC games (because they're easy to pirate). From their perspective, there's no reason to get an expensive console to play mostly the same games. It's the same with movies, where younger people just aren't that interested and see going to the cinema as old-fashioned. Whether there'll get more into both things as they get older I don't think anyone can say but assuming that most young people will like video games and movies by default just isn't possible anymore and I suspect it's only going to get worse. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. That explains why publishers are obsessed with live service games, although abandoning the people they know will spend money in an attempt to snag new ones that currently don't seems a flawed concept to me. Taniss All or nothing There's been a lot of talk recently about EA's status as the last big independent publisher but I have got a really bad feeling about Battlefield 6. They seem to be putting everything they've got into it but what guarantee have they got that it's going to be any better than Battlefield 2042? They were all in on that when it started and look how quickly that fell apart. Not putting all your eggs in one basket is such a basic piece of advice but between this and EA Sports FC, EA just doesn't seem to care. Battlefield is never going to be as a big as they want, they whiffed that chance a decade ago. At this rate we're never going to get Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Limpton Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Machine formula Seems like MachineGames have been talking about rebooting Quake for so long now, but I would love to see it happen. I'm curious to see if it will have the same set-up as all their other games though, where there's lots of little open world areas where you wander around and speak to people and get side quests. They've been doing that since the days of Chronicles Of Riddick and while I've always loved their stuff, it feels like they're still no very well known, not even after Indiana Jones And The Great Circle. Quake has never been the same between any of its sequels, so it's totally possible for them to mould it into something of their own. I'd love to see it but then again, the thought of a Wolfenstein 3 in a post-Trump world makes me very interested to see how far Microsoft would let them go. Gonch Amiga power Happy birthday to the Amiga on Wednesday! I had an A600 and A1200 in the early nineties, up until 2001. I've just been watching an Amiga documentary Blu-ray and it mentions about RoboCop 3 on the Amiga and the fact that the RoboCop films used the Amiga to create the computer graphics when you saw from RoboCop's point of view in the films! I didn't know that. The Amiga was also used to create the TV series Babylon 5. Andrew J. Big screen gaming Finally got around to picking up a decent OLED TV, as Richer Sounds had a good deal on the 2024 model Samsung 55″ S90D. The picture quality and screen size make for a pretty breathtaking visual experience but I do wonder if I'll adjust to gaming on a large screen while sitting on a couch. I started gaming on small screens sat at a desk and have ever since. Playing SNES, with Blood Sugar Sex Magik playing on the tape deck, connected to a 14″ CRT TV on an elaborate black ash cabinet/storage/desk area my dad built in the room I shared with my two brothers. I can feel the urge already to move the consoles back to the 1080p 27″ monitor I've been gaming on for the last seven years. I find myself feel more connected to a game sitting upright and close to a screen. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to try some different sitting positions on the sofa, maybe push it closer to the screen when gaming. Simundo The second Mortal Kombat 2 Could Mortal Kombat 2 be just as silly and violent as the films should have always been? Let's hope so, going by the newest trailer. Only problem is although Karl Urban is great, he doesn't always have the best luck in films he's associated with. Fingers crossed it doesn't turn out awful like its namesake from the past. Bobwallett GC: What's wrong with Karl Urban's filmography? We'd say he's had more hits than misses. Scary reality Yep. I've endured the entirety of Madison on my PlayStation VR2 and I think it's unquestionably a top contender for the scariest game I've ever played. The jump scares are certainly efficacious in virtual reality and the pervasively foreboding and spine-chilling atmosphere immersed me further into the interactive nightmare. The sound design is also amazing at inducing frequent head swivelling to determine the origins of the disturbing noises! There's one bit where a dastardly audio cue will forewarn you of the arrival of something truly horrendous, and even after several encounters of the worst kind with the evil entity, the sounds still managed to me feel weak at the knees. I also love how obtuse, elaborate, and stimulating the puzzle design is here. Like a fun maths-based one in the attic involving hidden figures and family portraits that had me pulling out a pen and paper to solve, because the way it's presented was so strange and wonderful. Two more sophisticated puzzles revolving around a clock room and one based in a mausoleum had the old grey matter sizzling. There are so many standout moments in the game that have lingered in my mind, like a parasitic organism that feeds on my primal fears. How a seemingly innocuous, omnipresent statue could elicit such anxiety in me is impressive. I really feel like games like Madison, and the superb Visage, do the legacy of cancelled Silent Hill project, P.T., proud with their dreamlike logic-based systems and incredibly unsettling haunted house settings. But protagonist Luca's prominent use of a magical camera to clear puzzles and capture some ghastly sights kind of evokes the Project Zero series too. The biggest compliment I could pay Argentinian developer Bloodious Game's debut is that every time I think about Madison's many blood-curdling moments, the hairs on the back on my neck stand up. Truly a hallmark of a great horror. Horror aficionados rejoice! Between Luto, Blooper Team's new IP, Cronos, Silent Hill f, Tormented Souls 2, and then Resident Evil Requiem in February 2026 – plus I'm sure some obscure indie horrors that I've yet to learn about – the genre of tentative treads and swelling dread has once more ingested the potent healing properties of the green and red herb formula, and it is in rude health indeed! Galvanized Gamer PS: Do you intend on reviewing another upcoming P.T. inspired horror, Luto, later this month? It looks very promising and I really enjoyed the creepy ghost story vibes in the demo. GC: Perhaps, it certainly does seem very much influenced by P.T. Inbox also-rans I really hope Nintendo goes big budget with the next Fire Emblem. For me, Engage was almost unplayable because it was obviously so cheap. It feels like they're taking advantage of fans and not really making any effort. Boysie If the new Ghost Recon is a first person shooter or a live service game then Ubisoft will have learned nothing. It'll be a pretty good indicator, actually, of whether there's any chance for them in the future, or if they're just never going to change. Lambo More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Commodore Amiga MORE: Games Inbox: What is the next big game for Nintendo Switch 2? MORE: Games Inbox: How would you improve Mario Kart World?
Engadget
03-07-2025
- Business
- Engadget
Anthem is officially shutting down on January 12
EA's beleaguered online shooter Anthem is shutting down for good on January 12, 2026 . The game will be removed from the company's storefront ahead of that on August 15. It'll be available for download after that date so long as it's already in your library. Some aspects of the game have already begun winding down. Players can no longer purchase premium in-game currency as of today, though they can still use existing balances to buy stuff. Anthem is a game that can only be played online, so once the servers shut down in January it will be bricked. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. The game launched in 2019 to poor reviews that called out the reliance on grinding and an overall lack of polish. This wasn't helped by a number of bugs that plagued early builds . Developer BioWare promised fixes, but those took a while to get implemented . By then, the damage to the brand was too severe. BioWare ceased active development of Anthem in 2021, which was followed by the game's director leaving the company . In other words, we all kind of knew this shutdown was coming. EA says that no layoffs occurred at the company as a result of this decision. However, that's likely because BioWare has already been through several steep staffing cuts. EA laid off 50 BioWare employees in 2023. This was followed by even more layoffs after Dragon Age: The Veilguard underperformed. BioWare currently has an operating staff of less than 100 people. The company is currently focused on the development of Mass Effect 5 .
Los Angeles Times
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Inside the ‘Dragon Age' debacle that gutted EA's BioWare Studio
In early November, on the eve of the holiday shopping season, staffers at the video game studio BioWare were feeling optimistic. After an excruciating development cycle, they had finally released their latest game, 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard,' and the early reception was largely positive. The role-playing game was topping sales charts on Steam, and solid, if not spectacular, reviews were rolling in. But in the weeks that followed, the early buzz cooled as players delved deeper into the fantasy world, and some BioWare employees grew anxious. For months, everyone at the subsidiary of the video game publisher Electronic Arts had been under intense pressure. The studio's previous two games, 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' and 'Anthem,' had flopped, and there were rumors that if 'Dragon Age' underperformed, BioWare might become another of EA's many casualties. Not long after Christmas, the bad news surfaced. EA announced in January that the new 'Dragon Age' had reached only 1.5 million players, missing the company's expectations by 50%. The holiday performance of another recently released title, 'EA Sports FC 25,' was also subpar, compounding the problem. As a result of the struggling titles, EA Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson said, the company would be significantly lowering its sales forecast for the fiscal year ahead. EA's share price promptly plunged 18%. ''Dragon Age' had a high-quality launch and was well-reviewed by critics and those who played,' Wilson said on an earnings call. 'However, it did not resonate with a broad enough audience in this highly competitive market.' Days after the sales revision, EA laid off a chunk of BioWare's staff at the studio's headquarters in Edmonton, Canada, and permanently transferred many of the remaining workers to other divisions. For the storied, 30-year-old game maker, it was a stunning fall that left many fans wondering how things had gone so haywire — and what might come next for the stricken studio. According to interviews with nearly two dozen people who worked on 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard,' there were several reasons behind its failure, including marketing misfires, poor word of mouth and a 10-year gap since the previous title. Above all, sources point to the rebooting of the product from a single-player game to a multiplayer one — and then back again — a switch that muddled development and inflated the title's budget, they say, ultimately setting the stage for EA's potentially unrealistic sales expectations. A spokesperson for EA declined to comment. The union between BioWare and EA started off with lofty aspirations. In 2007, EA executives announced they were acquiring BioWare and another gaming studio in a deal worth $860 million. The goal was to diversify their slate of games, which was heavy in sports titles, such as 'Madden NFL,' and light in the kind of adventure and role-playing games that BioWare was known for. Initially, it looked like a smart move thanks to a string of big hits. In 2014, BioWare released 'Dragon Age: Inquisition,' the third installment in a popular action series dropping players in a semi-open world full of magic, elves and fire-spewing dragons. The fantasy title won the Game of the Year award and sold 12 million copies, according to its executive producer Mark Darrah — a major validation of EA's diversification strategy. Before long, Darrah and Mike Laidlaw, the creative director, began kicking around ideas for the next 'Dragon Age' installment, aiming for a game that would be smaller in scope. But before much could get done, BioWare shifted the studio's focus to more pressing titles coming down the pike. In 2017, BioWare released 'Mass Effect: Andromeda,' the fourth installment in a big-budget action series set in space. Unlike its critically successful predecessors, the game received mediocre reviews and was widely mocked by fans. A few months after the disappointing release, the head of BioWare stepped down and was soon replaced by Microsoft's Casey Hudson, an alumnus of BioWare's early, formative years. Like much of the industry, EA executives were growing increasingly enamored of so-called live-service games, such as 'Destiny' and 'Overwatch,' in which players continue to engage with and spend money on a title for months or even years after its initial release. With EA aiming to make a splash in the fast-growing category, BioWare poured resources into 'Anthem,' a live-service shooter game that checked all the right boxes. One day in October 2017, Laidlaw summoned his colleagues into a conference room and pulled out a few pricey bottles of whiskey. The next 'Dragon Age' sequel, he told the room, would also be pivoting to an online, live-service game — a decision from above that he disagreed with. He was resigning from the studio. The assembled staff stayed late through the night, drinking and reminiscing about the franchise they loved. 'I wish that pivot had never occurred,' Darrah would later recount on YouTube. 'EA said, 'Make this a live service.' We said, 'We don't know how to do that. We should basically start the project over.'' Former art director Matt Goldman replaced Laidlaw as creative director, and with a tiny team began pushing ahead on a new multiplayer version of 'Dragon Age' while everyone else helped to finish 'Anthem,' which was struggling to coalesce. Goldman pushed for a 'pulpy,' more lighthearted tone than previous entries, which suited an online game but was a drastic departure from the dark, dynamic stories that fans loved in the fantasy series. In February 2019, BioWare released 'Anthem.' Reviews were scathing, calling the game tedious and convoluted. Fans were similarly displeased. On social media, players demanded to know why a studio renowned for beloved stories and characters had made an online shooter with a scattershot narrative. In the wake of BioWare's second consecutive flop, the multiplayer version of 'Dragon Age' continued to take shape. While the previous games in the franchise had featured tactical combat, this one would be all action. Instead of quests that players would experience only once, it would be full of missions that could be replayed repeatedly with friends and strangers. Important characters couldn't die because they had to persist for multiple players across never-ending gameplay. As the game evolved over the next two years, the failure of 'Anthem' hovered over the studio. Were they making the same mistakes? Some BioWare employees scoffed that they were simply building ''Anthem' with dragons.' Throughout 2020, the pandemic disrupted the game's already fraught development. In December, Hudson, the head of the studio, and Darrah, the head of the franchise, resigned. Shortly thereafter, Gary McKay, BioWare's new studio head, revealed yet another shift in strategy. Moving forward, the next 'Dragon Age' would no longer be multiplayer. 'We were thinking, 'Does this make sense, does this play into our strengths, or is this going to be another challenge we have to face?'' McKay told Bloomberg News. 'No, we need to get back to what we're really great at.' In theory, the reversion back to the series' tried-and-true, single-player format should have been welcome news inside BioWare. But there was a catch. Typically, this kind of pivot would be coupled with a reset and a period of pre-production allowing the designers to formulate a new vision for the game. Instead, the team was asked to change the game's fundamental structure and recast the entire story on the fly, according to people familiar with the new marching orders. They were given a year and a half to finish and told to aim for as wide a market as possible. This strict deadline became a recurring problem. The development team would make decisions believing that they had less than a year to release the game, which severely limited the stories they could tell and the world they could build. Then the title would inevitably be delayed a few months, at which point they'd be stuck with those old decisions with no chance to stop and reevaluate what was working. At the end of 2022, amid continually dizzying leadership changes, the studio started distributing an 'alpha' build of 'Dragon Age' to get feedback internally and from outside playtesters. According to people familiar with the process, the reactions were concerning. The game's biggest problem, early players agreed, was a lack of satisfying choices and consequences. Previous BioWare titles had presented players with gut-wrenching decisions. Which allies to save? Which factions to spare? Which enemies to slay? Such dilemmas made fans feel like they were shaping the narrative — historically, a big draw for many BioWare games. But the multiplayer roots of 'Dragon Age' limited such choices, according to people familiar with the development. BioWare delayed the game's release again while the team shoehorned in a few major decisions, such as which of two cities to save from a dragon attack. But because most of the parameters were already well established, the designers struggled to pair the newly retrofitted choices for players with meaningful consequences downstream. In 2023, to help finish game, BioWare brought in a second, internal team, which was working on the next 'Mass Effect.' For decades there'd been tension between the two well-established camps, known for their starkly divergent ways of doing things. BioWare developers like to joke that the 'Dragon Age' crew was like a pirate ship, meandering and sometimes traveling off course but eventually reaching the port. In contrast, the 'Mass Effect' group was called the USS Enterprise, after the 'Star Trek' ship, because commands were issued straight from the top and executed zealously. As the 'Mass Effect' directors took control, they scoffed that the 'Dragon Age' squad had been doing a shoddy job and began excluding their leaders from pivotal meetings, according to people familiar with the internal friction. Over time, the 'Mass Effect' team went on to overhaul parts of the game and design a number of additional scenes, including a rich, emotional finale that players loved. But even changes that appeared to improve the game stoked the simmering rancor inside BioWare, infuriating 'Dragon Age' leaders who had been told they didn't have the budget for such big, ambitious swings. 'It always seemed that, when the 'Mass Effect' team made its demands in meetings with EA regarding the resources it needed, it got its way,' said David Gaider, a former lead writer on the 'Dragon Age' franchise who left before development of the new game started. 'But 'Dragon Age' always had to fight against headwinds.' Early testers and 'Mass Effect' leads complained about the game's snarky tone — a style of video game storytelling, once ascendant, that was quickly falling out of fashion in pop culture but had been part of Goldman's vision for the multiplayer game. Worried that 'Dragon Age' could face the same outcome as 'Forspoken' — a recent title that had been hammered over its impertinent banter — BioWare leaders ordered a belated rewrite of the game's dialogue to make it sound more serious. (In the end, the resulting tonal inconsistencies would only add to the game's poor reception with fans.) A mass layoff at BioWare and a mandate to work overtime depleted morale while a voice actors' strike limited the writers' ability to revise the dialogue and create new scenes. An initial trailer made the next 'Dragon Age' seem more like 'Fortnite' than a dark fantasy role-playing game, triggering concerns that EA didn't know how to market the game. When 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' finally premiered on Halloween after many internal delays, some staff members thought there was a lot to like, including the game's new combat system. But players were less impressed, and sales sputtered. 'The reactions of the fan base are mixed, to put it gently,' said Caitie, a popular 'Dragon Age' YouTuber. 'Some, like myself, adore it for various reasons. Others feel utterly betrayed by certain design choices.' Following the layoffs and staff reassignments at BioWare earlier in the year, a small team of a few dozen employees is working on the next 'Mass Effect.' After three high-profile failures in a row, questions linger about EA's commitment to the studio. In May, the company relabeled its Edmonton headquarters from a BioWare office to a hub for all EA staff in the area. Historically, BioWare has never been the most important studio at EA, which generates more than $7 billion in annual revenue largely from its sports games and shooters. Depending on the timing of its launches, BioWare typically accounts for just 5% of EA's annual bookings, according to estimates by Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co. Even so, there may be strategic reasons for EA to keep supporting BioWare. Single-player role-playing games are expensive to make but can lead to huge windfalls when successful, as demonstrated by recent hits such as 'Cyberpunk 2077,' 'Elden Ring' and 'Baldur's Gate 3.' In order to grow, EA needs more than just sports franchises, said TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz. Trying to fix its fantasy-focused studio may be easier than starting something new. 'That said, if they shuttered the doors tomorrow I wouldn't be totally surprised,' Creutz added. 'It has been over a decade since they produced a hit.' Schreier writes for Bloomberg.
NZ Herald
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Inside the ‘Dragon Age' debacle that gutted EA's BioWare studio
In early November, on the eve of the crucial holiday shopping season, staffers at the video-game studio BioWare were feeling optimistic. After an excruciating development cycle, they had finally released their latest game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and the early reception was largely positive. The role-playing game was topping sales
