The future of the BioWare studio of the American publishing house Electronic Arts is in the hands of new opuses of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age licenses.
Despite exits and recent setbacks at BioWare, Gary McKay is definitely looking to the future: “In taking on the role of CEO, I spoke about rebuilding our reputation and that remains a huge priority. We are committed to regaining the trust of our fans and our community, and we intend to achieve this by releasing games that have built our reputation and ensuring they are of the highest quality.
Our mission is to create worlds of adventure, conflict and camaraderie that inspire you to be the hero of your story. We want the launch of our games to be a game changer for the industry. We want every game to get the same reaction as Mass Effect Legendary Edition. We believe we have the right people, the right creative direction and the support of Electronic Arts to deliver on that promise.”
While Anthem won’t have the opportunity to return in a new form for a reboot, two very popular licenses will define BioWare’s future: “We continue to work hard on the next iterations of Dragon Age and Mass Effect. I see the incredible work of our teams. If you’re curious about Mass Effect, I suggest you take a look at the poster we released on N7 Day. If you look closely, you will see that there are several little secrets. By my count, there are at least five surprises pointing to the extraordinary future of the Mass Effect universe. As for Dragon Age, we have a group of experienced and talented developers who work with diligence and passion. We focus on a single experience that depends on the choice that matters a lot.«
Another year of BioWare memories and plans for the future
For nearly five years, BioWare has been a shadow of itself, and 2021 has clearly not helped matters: As the uncertainty of a global pandemic continues to disrupt our professional and personal lives, we have had to react very quickly to adapt to changing circumstances. But despite everything, it has been an absolute joy to run a studio with so many incredibly talented people, a team that is always pushing the boundaries through innovation and a relentless pursuit of quality.
However, sales were not without problems. It has not been easy to continue working during a global pandemic. We had to adopt new tools, processes and ways of communicating. We all have to find a balance between personal time and work, and everyone has to deal with their situation. The biggest problem remains the uncertainty of it all, which makes life difficult for everyone and makes it difficult to plan for the future. But it also has its good sides.
We united in a studio to help each other even in our personal lives. We are here for each other and we stick together as a team. For example, during the February snow apocalypse in Austin, a storm literally swept through the city. It was encouraging to hear how people are doing everything they can to keep others safe, including seeking shelter or handing out food and water.
The pandemic has also taught us a lot about how we can work together, even across North America from hundreds of different locations. Now we’ll take what we’ve learned and apply it to a new working model that will provide flexibility for everyone in the studio.
Our goal is to use what everyone loves about working from home, while at the same time enabling people to return to the office with more flexibility. In the future, we will have to tackle new challenges with a hybrid approach to work, and we will focus on new technologies that maximize collaboration and communication between people on site and remotely. Another subtle but important change we’ve made concerns our hiring practices.