BioWare interested in making smaller, more experimental games around the size of Hellblade

I wonder if it would be low cost to create a game like KOTOR or Jade Empire nowadays.

One thing is for sure: If they don't have to record every single line of dialog, like how it is these days, we might get tons more options and choices.

I wish more big AAA companies would make these smaller limited scope games with AAA production values.

Like give me a good 6 hour single player experience for 40$. I would love to see something Akin to Titanfall 2's single player in a small standalone package.

I've been asking for this for years now.
Like, imagine if BioWare made a C-RPG in the Mass Effect universe with a smaller team. Something not incredible visually but with a great system and who would appeal to older BioWare fans, and bring back some hype.
Or an AA sequel to Jade Empire. I'd be down for that.
In any case, making games without the pressure of an AAA should be good for them.

This has a lot of potential, I'm finally interested in Bioware again.

I would love to see them work their way up to an rpg

I get wanting to diversify but it feels like they're running away full speed from their main strength: cultivating immersive relationships over the course of a story. :/

Can they return to hardcore rpg instead of shooter or casual rpg?

Huh, funny that. Smaller, more experimental games from Bioware... too bad they cancelled https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Realms and more besides. That was one of the major motivations for that project (and others) and was one of the reasons I was so excited to work on it. Hope they're serious this time and can get buy-in from everyone long enough to get something out the door.

Resurgence of the AA game?

That will save them. No, really. People will flock to buy a true Bioware RPG no matter if low budget or 15 hours long. There's a market for that and it's way less saturated than th AAA MMO Shooter one.

Just do that Dragon Age Tactics game. Hell, even pull the models and environment assets from DAI.

Doooooo iiiiiiittttt

Teeth said:

Just do that Dragon Age Tactics game. Hell, even pull the models and environment assets from DAI.

Doooooo iiiiiiittttt

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This would be my dream. I asked Mark Darrah if there was any update on the idea months back, but he said while it'd be cool, nothing was planned.

It makes sense, they won't maintain the SP fan base if they don't release quality SP games. GaaS is more profitable obviously, but you're still leaving money on the table if you don't do something to bring that fanbase back.

Like for me, I'm done with BioWare if they go GAAS only. It opens up opportunities for smaller devs to gain a following. I already follow a substantial amount of indie devs compared to 10 years ago where I mostly avoided them.

I'm into this idea

I ll believe it when i see it (and read reviews about it).

Kolx said:

Considering Mass Effect is on ice and DE was rebooted and have a small team I feel like "aaa" titles are Anthem and their new vision for DE, which means in a way they're a replacement for the kind of experiences we're used to from Bioware.

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I've been searching on Google and I can't find any info on what DE stands for. When was that announced?

Honestly, Andromeda would have benefited from being reigned in. No need for the big open world(s), should have been narrative driven mostly linear game like the rest of the series

I would like a smaller RPG from them. Something like 15-20 hours.

I would be nice to see a lot of studios do this. I wish them luck in they're efforts

I would LOVE that for Mass Effect. Casey, listen to me. I know you would love to put in motion a project, a bite-sized story in the ME canon of, idk, a dude who gets to fare space for the first time after leaving a colony. Really emphasizing the grand meeting with the first mass relay and telltale-style conversations on the ship while you're traveling and limited segments of gunplay or something.

Nessus said:

I've been searching on Google and I can't find any info on what DE stands for. When was that announced?

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They meant Dragon Age (DA), but the extent to which DA4 was "rebooted" was exaggerated by fan imagination from Jason Schreier's BioWare article earlier this year. Schreier clarified on Twitter that it was a directional reboot toward more live services, which Casey Hudson then further clarified meant more on-going story DLC.

If they go full out supporting Anthem this is probably all they'll have the capacity for.

SeanBoocock said:

Huh, funny that. Smaller, more experimental games from Bioware... too bad they cancelled https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Realms and more besides. That was one of the major motivations for that project (and others) and was one of the reasons I was so excited to work on it. Hope they're serious this time and can get buy-in from everyone long enough to get something out the door.

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Shadow Realms seemed the opposite of small.

id be interested for sure, but im just not sure bioware has what it takes to make good games anymore, aaa or indie

Sounds great but I doubt EA will approve. The big publishers only care about the big money.

Nostremitus said:

Honestly, Andromeda would have benefited from being reigned in. No need for the big open world(s), should have been narrative driven mostly linear game like the rest of the series

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the problem with Andromeda is that they totally Ubisoft-ified the game (despite it not being developed by Ubisoft), though it was still more playable than whatever the heck DA:I is supposed to be. I don't necessarily have anything against open-world games, heck I ended up disliking ME2 and not playing ME3 because I have no love for corridor shooters either, but there was absolutely no justification to have these vast empty gameworld with nothing to see and nothing to do but mind-numbing tedious quests after quest. The one thing the game did well where the many conversations you can have with your crew

they really squandered the interesting premise. And the countless vaults where insufferable. And none of the planets are any fun to explore, they're nearly all the same. You constantly fight wave after wave of the same enemies, and they even respawn after some time. And the cities are devoid of any life

SageShinigami said:

Are you going to tell me to subscribe to your YouTube next?

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Bioware didn't just die, IT WAS MURDERED!!!!

EA: lolno

BossAttack said:

Shadow Realsm seemed the opposite of small.

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In the context of AAA productions and Bioware's most recent games, it was quite small.

SeanBoocock said:

In the context of AAA productions and Bioware's most recent games, it was quite small.

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Hmph, interesting to know. It seemed like it was being billed as another "smaller" MMO.

Dear Bioware, don't just talk about it

Theyve got talent either starr smaller IP they could expand or work with existing ones on smaller titles with weirder games. It's not like Mass Effect is doing anything just collecting dust. Make some kind of surreal experimental game with it

EA will never allow it

Yeah, i love this. Hope more big studios do it.

Thats a great idea.

As long as EA doesn't expect those games to sell like Anthem or Battlefield (which is pretty obvious, but with EA you never know), this could lead to some very interesting stuff.

EA will close them before they have the chance.

I'd like to see this happen (sadly it won't). Bioware's recent games have had problems but the bloat was the biggest issue for me. Simply too much in DAO and Andromeda that wasn't integral to the game or story, and too much of it was simply dull (fetch quests etc) To see some smaller scale work that is more focused could work well.

Good, fuck expensive AAA games, the production value is off the charts and often prevents developers from taking big risks, this ''bigger better prettier'' AAA race has to stop.

There're way more mediocre AAA games than decent ones, for every God of War we have to sit through 100 Mass Effect Andromeda and The Order 1886, it's not worth it.

Where in AA space we get games like Dishonored, Prey, Wolfenstein, Persona, Tokyo Xanadu, Neir Automata, Nioh, RE7, Yakuza, Dark Souls, Monster Hunter all the time, there're way more decent ones than terrible ones.

Nemesis162 said:

Yeah, like the three single player games they released this year.

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EA did not make these games, they published them. Any game made and published by EA is mulyiplayer, now.

As far as I know, BioWare are owned by EA.

Jerykk said:

Sounds great but I doubt EA will approve. The big publishers only care about the big money.

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EA has a subscription service, they need content to drive the service.

I'd love to see the Dragon Age Tactics game become reality. Unfortunately this sounds more like doing shorter versions of typical mass appeal third person action RPGs. That said, I don't think Bioware is going to actually do these things they say they'd like to, but continue on the path of GaaS multiplayer titles because that's supposedly what we want.

More budget games can only be a good thing. Also more stories where you aren't the super god saviour of the universe would be nice.

Jade Empire is back baybeee

CharlesAznable said:

Sounds good. This was a big part of why I was rooting for Hellblade's success. So it could inspire other studios to do something similar. And it seems like it's working.

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Same. Glad to see the resurgence of the mid-tier market. Some of my favourite games are made in that bracket. Look forward to seeing what they can make out of such a venture.

They should absolutely pursue this approach, would be awesome to see what they do.

Why don't they make Star Wars: Knights of the Republic 3?

norwegiandude86 said:

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Wtf does this have to do with the topic at hand?
Anything else to add?