Casey Hudson, Mark Darrah leave BioWare

[elenarie]

I'll just quote a very good friend of mine.

A GM is there to manage a studio. Not a game. An executive producer is there to make a game ship, not design it. AAA games are made by hundreds and sometime thousands of people. THEY are the one making the game. Execs' leaving really doesn't change much.

 

[Quinton]

He is still writing at Bioware. At least according to his Twitter.

Patrick's Twitter

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I just sent Patrick a Tweet asking for confirmation on this. It's entirely possible they'll either miss my question or feel the need to avoid answering it but hopefully, we hear back.

 

[THE RABID MOOSE]

Casey is just there to leave BioWare at this point, this is actually pretty funny.

 

[Quinton]

I'll just quote a very good friend of mine.

A GM is there to manage a studio. Not a game. An executive producer is there to make a game ship, not design it. AAA games are made by hundreds and sometime thousands of people. THEY are the one making the game. Execs' leaving really doesn't change much.

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No worries. I know. I still have confidence in Dragon Age 4 and look forward to seeing more. It's still a sad day for me simply as somebody who has eagerly followed Mark Darrah's Dragon Age discussions (and blatant love of fandom) for so many years. :)

 

[RoninZ]

Casey is just there to leave BioWare at this point, this is actually pretty funny.

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For him I can imagine between dealing with EA and the fallout from Anthem's failure, he was probably pushed out or just simply had enough of company politics. Who knows

I just sent Patrick a Tweet asking for confirmation on this. It's entirely possible he'll either miss my question or feel the need to avoid answering it but hopefully, we hear back.

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Patrick was tweeting about making Solas' character being a group effort and that Bioware is a team. It reads like they are still part of the company I think??

 

[Linus815]

I'll just quote a very good friend of mine.

A GM is there to manage a studio. Not a game. An executive producer is there to make a game ship, not design it. AAA games are made by hundreds and sometime thousands of people. THEY are the one making the game. Execs' leaving really doesn't change much.

Click to shrink...

On a related note, I am so happy we are in Sweden and we don't have this same media frenzy here. With how many people keep switching studios in Stockholm on a monthly basis across the several good ones we have now, you would think nothing would ever get done in a Swedish studio judging by these reactions here.

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people leaving isnt the issue, the issue is biowares troubled track record for the past few years and the expose articles that offered a good view into the troubled inner workings of the studio. News like this don't instil confidence whatsoever that things improved. Also, to be completely honest, bioware losing almost all of the original talent over the years lines up pretty well with their games gradually dropping in quality.

 

[elenarie]

On a related note, I am so happy we are in Sweden and we don't have this same media frenzy here. With how many people keep switching studios in Stockholm on a monthly basis across the several good ones we have now, you would think nothing would ever get done in a Swedish studio judging by these reactions here.

 

[doemaaan]

THAT ain't the news I wanted to hear Chief. Try again.

 

[jediyoshi]

On a related note, I am so happy we are in Sweden and we don't have this same media frenzy here. With how many people keep switching studios in Stockholm on a monthly basis across the several good ones we have now, you would think nothing would ever get done in a Swedish studio judging by these reactions here.

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Bioware is an edgecase because it's seemingly been on fire forever now and Casey Hudson is a high profile figurehead.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

Let's go back in time and make Microsoft buy BioWare instead.

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It was sort of an inside job selling them to EA. John Riccitello left EA (former COO) in 2004, and was a co-founder of Elevation Partners, a private equity firm. Elevation Partners talked Bioware and Pandemic into semi-merging, and then as a collective unit they would receive investment from Elevation Partners, basically buying them out. Microsoft was interested in Bioware, but not in Pandemic - so there wasn't much chance at that point unless Microsoft wanted to buy it as a package deal.

In Feb 2007, John Ricitello returned to EA, this time as CEO. Elevation Partners, which he was still a big part of, sold the duo to EA (the company he was now CEO of) in Oct of that year.

 

[Teapot Jeffries]

I have zero faith in Bioware.

Fuck I love the Mass Effect trilogy and am looking forward to the remaster, but any new ME from them? Nah.

I couldn't even finish ME:A. It was a soulless, convuluted mess that had the appearance of a ME game, but failed on every other level.

Something is seriously wrong there.

 

[NateDog]

Well I guess I'll just go back to being excited about the trilogy remaster and pretend nothing else is happening.

 

[Julab]

Mass Effect and Dragon Age will never be the same. BioWare will eventually probably be merged with someone else now.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

When did Hudson return to bioware? Doesn't feel like that long ago.

 

[Asbsand]

I just sent Patrick a Tweet asking for confirmation on this. It's entirely possible he'll either miss my question or feel the need to avoid answering it but hopefully, we hear back.

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He should be unless that changed today. There's Dragon Age Day... tomorrow? Or was supposed to be, and he was gonna be there as "Lead Writer DA Franchise".

When did Hudson return to bioware? Doesn't feel like that long ago.

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2017, right after E3 when Aaryn Flynn either got fired or left, and Anthem had just been announced.

 

[Quinton]

He was tweeting about making Solas' character being a group effort and that Bioware is a team. It reads like he's still part of the company I think??

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That Tweet was well-timed, too; everything's a collaborative effort.

On a related note, I am so happy we are in Sweden and we don't have this same media frenzy here. With how many people keep switching studios in Stockholm on a monthly basis across the several good ones we have now, you would think nothing would ever get done in a Swedish studio judging by these reactions here.

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Eh, Era is Era. You know how it is here.

As I said, some folks just got deeply attached to Mark in particular, I think. I look forward to many more years of his interactions with the fandom regardless!

He should be unless that changed today. There's Dragon Age Day... tomorrow? Or was supposed to be, and he was gonna be there as "Lead Writer DA Franchise".

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Oh yeah! I somehow forgot about that.

 

[Venom.]

Casey Hudson was the director of the Mass Effect trilogy. It cannot be overstated enough how important his role was in leading the game design and the universe. If anybody thinks this can be easily imitated just look at the critical reaction to Mass Effect Andromeda.

He had made comments about the next game which suggested he was leading that too. So I wonder what happened between him and EA.

 

[Asbsand]

Casey Hudson was the director of the Mass Effect trilogy. It cannot be overstated enough how important his role was in leading the game design and the universe. If anybody thinks this can be easily imitated just look at the critical reaction to Mass Effect Andromeda.

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Thankfully the other respectively leads of the ME franchise have become the 3 directors leading the new project, based in Edmonton this time. So I have some hope that it could turn out well... but I felt more optimistic about that yesterday. Casey was never going to direct it anyway, but he would have at least been able to supervise it and help out when people would have doubts about what to do.

 

[Mass Effect]

I hope this doesn't mean anything too bad, but it's a shame to see them leave (again).

 

[SofNascimento]

Casey Hudson was the director of the Mass Effect trilogy. It cannot be overstated enough how important his role was in leading the game design and the universe. If anybody thinks this can be easily imitated just look at the critical reaction to Mass Effect Andromeda.

He had made comments about the next game which suggested he was leading that too. So I wonder what happened between him and EA.

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And KoTOR's.

The guy is superbly talentend, whatever mistake he made with ME3's ending doesn't change that. The fact that he is leaving before is the biggest sign that Bioware is beyond salvation.

 

[Messofanego]

On the other hand, when a whole lot of people consistently keep leaving one after another, it makes you question whether there's something about the environment that's pushing them out. It wouldn't be news if it wasn't a frequent thing. Casey already left once and came back only three years ago.

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Many reasons, finished a game, crunch, management. Is it really a mass exodus, how many have left? I'm more leaning Casey and Mark know each other well, one proposed the idea of leaving because been there for a while, the other took on the idea and followed.

 

[zombiejames]

RIP DA4.

 

[Quinton]

 

[Charcoal]

On a related note, I am so happy we are in Sweden and we don't have this same media frenzy here. With how many people keep switching studios in Stockholm on a monthly basis across the several good ones we have now, you would think nothing would ever get done in a Swedish studio judging by these reactions here.

Click to shrink...

Wouldn't this affect the overall workflow of games in active development? I know if I had teammates coming and going every month, that would definitely have an effect on the projects I'm responsible for at work.

 

[Grouch Douglass]

Just put Bioware to rest at this point. Publish the Mass Effect collection and call it a day. Last good game they had was Mass Effect 2 or Dragon Age, whichever came out last

 

[Asbsand]

EDIT: Late.

So much for "Anthem 2.0".

 

[Garlador]

On a related note, I am so happy we are in Sweden and we don't have this same media frenzy here. With how many people keep switching studios in Stockholm on a monthly basis across the several good ones we have now, you would think nothing would ever get done in a Swedish studio judging by these reactions here.

Click to shrink...

Eh, it's more a combination of a lot of issues - big and small - internal and external - over many years, many games - that has led a lot of people to just be really bummed out over Bioware for quite some time.

I'm not doom and gloom, but I know they have a pretty big uphill struggle to get back into the position they once were. They can get there (one reason I was one of those begging for a Mass Effect remaster to remind people of how great they used to be), but most developers aren't in Bioware's shoes and needing to rebuild a lot of burned bridges.

 

[Quinton]

Just put Bioware to rest at this point. Publish the Mass Effect collection and call it a day. Last good game they had was Mass Effect 2 or Dragon Age, whichever came out last

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They gave me one of my all-time favorite games with the most recent Dragon Age installment and Mike Gamble helming the next Mass Effect is also rad. Please do not will this to reality somehow.

 

[elenarie]

Just put Bioware to rest at this point. Publish the Mass Effect collection and call it a day. Last good game they had was Mass Effect 2 or Dragon Age, whichever came out last

Click to shrink...

Thanks for saying that thousands of people should lose their job. What the hell is wrong with people in this place?!

 

[Enduin]

Not great news, but not necessarily terrible news either. Two senior and major faces of the company leaving like that is rarely reassuring, but not so objectively catastrophic that people should be gloom and dooming BioWare.

Their departures seem pretty sudden. I don't get a good sense that they left on their own or were pushed out. Maybe EA was not happy with their progress on reforming the company culture after the disaster that was Anthem and subsequent articles on crunch and disarray within the company. Or were they in part just tired of being a part of a larger publisher and felt the ship was pointing in the right direction finally and they chose to jump ship at the first chance to more independent pastures?

 

[Dysun]

BioWare is just a name at this point, the people who made those games ages ago have all left the studio--this is another in that pile.

 

[MayorSquirtle]

Many reasons, finished a game, crunch, management. Is it really a mass exodus, how many have left? I'm more leaning Casey and Mark know each other well, one proposed the idea of leaving because been there for a while, the other took on the idea and followed.

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Mike Laidlaw was the last DA4 lead and left not very long ago. David Gaider created Dragon Age and left sometime in the last couple years. The main point being, almost no leadership who's been with Dragon Age for a long time is still on it. And the person they just put in charge is the former studio director of Bioware Austin, so now leadership is being shaken up there as well and the Dragon Age team is going to be led by someone who was, until now, not even working in the same country as them.

 

[Avitus]

BioWare getting closed after DA4?

Vibe I'm getting.

 

[j3d1j4m13]

Not great news but really do wish the teams working at Bioware the best of luck and hope they make some great games.

 

[Asbsand]

BioWare getting closed after DA4?

Vibe I'm getting.

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DA4 could very likely be the final game in the series just given the state of the company and dangers of promising more games after it.

I just hope it ships at this point. It's still in pre-production afaik, and Mark Darrah was EP on all of them, which leaves me pretty worried.

The good news is that if they have that time to finish stuff and see the writing on the wall saying "BioWare not gonna last longer" there's a good deal of Ex-BioWare studios around Edmonton and other places nowadays. I could see Patrick Weekes working with David Gaider on Chorus if he leaves BioWare at some point. Archetype also seems like the biggest Ex-BioWare endeavour. But I hope BioWare remains viable even if they end up making 2D games or something.

 

[Quinton]

Not great news but really do wish the teams working at Bioware the best of luck and hope they make some great games.

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I'm glad there's some positivity in here. :)

 

[Persephone]

He is still writing at Bioware. At least according to his Twitter.

Patrick's Twitter

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I just sent Patrick a Tweet asking for confirmation on this. It's entirely possible he'll either miss my question or feel the need to avoid answering it but hopefully, we hear back.

Click to shrink...

He was tweeting about making Solas' character being a group effort and that Bioware is a team. It reads like he's still part of the company I think??

Click to shrink...

He should be unless that changed today. There's Dragon Age Day... tomorrow? Or was supposed to be, and he was gonna be there as "Lead Writer DA Franchise".

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Patrick Weekes uses they/them pronouns.

On topic, I'm honestly not that worried about DA4. The best writers (Weekes, Chee, Kirby, Feketekuty) are still there. As long as I get a satisfying conclusion to the story I'm happy.

 

[Musubi]

Isn't this like the second time Hudson has left Bioware? Lol.

 

[Asbsand]

Patrick Weekes uses they/them pronouns.

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Fuck, this is the second time I've been called out on this. I'm very sorry! 🙏

 

[RoninZ]

Patrick Weekes uses they/them pronouns.

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Changed the posts, I missed that in their bio. Apologies.

 

[Persephone]

Changed the posts, I missed that in his bio. Apologies.

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dude...

 

[Quinton]

Patrick Weekes uses they/them pronouns.

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Fuck. Thank you so much for this. I'll correct immediately.

 

[RoninZ]

dude...

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I know. I changed when I saw it. I'm being scattered brained today.

 

[Scottoest]

I'll just quote a very good friend of mine.

A GM is there to manage a studio. Not a game. An executive producer is there to make a game ship, not design it. AAA games are made by hundreds and sometime thousands of people. THEY are the one making the game. Execs' leaving really doesn't change much.

Click to shrink...

I would agree on it's own, it's not like Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah leaving is the end of the world (though both leaving at the same time at least raises an eyebrow). But it's the combination of this news, PLUS all of the other headline people who have left the last few years, PLUS the reception to Andromeda and Anthem - and that all of this is going on in the midst of them trying some weird plan to "fix" Anthem - that raises massive red flags.

And these are only the people senior enough that we are hearing about them. As you say - games are made by hundreds or thousands of people, and we don't even know how many of those rank and file programmers and artists have cycled out during this time.

 

[Lifejumper]

Man wtf

 

[Death Penalty]

Lots of fond memories of Bioware's prior output, really sad to see that things might actually be on fire over there. I didn't want to believe even after the smoke that was Andromeda and Anthem.

 

[Asbsand]

But it's the combination of this news, PLUS all of the other headline people who have left the last few years, PLUS the reception to Andromeda and Anthem

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For me it was the feeling that DA:I MEA and Anthem were all within the same project startup phase, and ended up like a burning train that had to be detached, and Casey had come back to do that to minimize the damage, and after Anthem shipped there was news they moved into a new office building, that Mass Effect got some air under the wings again and DA4 was about to shape up more positively after some bad projects. It was the feeling that with Casey back, it was possible for more BioWare oldies to come back and make things familiar again, and not keep bleeding talent all the time. The month Anthem shipped its lead animator Parrish Ley, Lead Animator on the Mass Effect trilogy left BioWare, but he came back at the start of this year, a while after the new office was set up. That to me was a sign that Casey had inspired confidence somehow, and made BioWare attractive again. But then today happens and now I have the same pessimism I felt back before Anthem shipped all over again.

 

[MrNewVegas]

BioWare is just a name at this point, the people who made those games ages ago have all left the studio--this is another in that pile.

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Ah BioWare, the small studio created by doctors who threw together a little game named Baldurs Gate.

 

[My Blue Heaven]

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translation: "bye bitch, enjoy cleaning up the mess i left ya. bababooey"

 

[Grouch Douglass]

Thanks for saying that thousands of people should lose their job. What the hell is wrong with people in this place?!

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It's cool that you are a dev and are concerned about people in your line of work. Bioware is clearly a husk of their former selves though. Maybe a rebrand might work?