- BioWare veteran Mark Darrah claims that the studio had multiple failures because it did not focus on a single project at a time.
- He believes EA caused a cannibalization of talent, which made the team compromise on games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
- He argues that BioWare games would have done much better if the studio had focused on them one at a time.
BioWare was once a behemoth in the gaming industry with its compelling RPGs, but many recent releases have sullied its name. Dragon Age: The Veilguard was especially a disaster for the franchise and the studio as a whole.
Popular BioWare veteran developer Mark Darrah claims that all this could have been prevented if the studio had focused on one project at a time instead of dividing its forces. He argues that EA caused a cannibalization of talent at the studio.
Why it matters: The company has struggled to find its footing in the last decade under the leadership of EA. A BioWare veteran believes the studio might have enjoyed milestones instead of woes if it had developed one game at a time.
In an interview with MrMattyPlays, Mark argues that BioWare was involved with multiple games simultaneously. This proved to be a recipe for disaster for the small studio, with veteran talents like Casey Hudson also eventually quitting after growing tired of the leadership.
We Tried To Do Multiple Things … At The Same Time. If you look at like DICE, basically they’re just doing one thing at a time. Sometimes that does really well.
Therefore, the team took shortcuts and cut corners with Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Anthem because EA prioritized some entries over others; for example, Mass Effect Andromeda reportedly got more attention at EA than Veilguard.
when you’re doing two, three, five things at a time, […] you need to be big. And what was happening was a lot of Cannibalization [of talent].
Mark has now urged the current BioWare developers to use Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a scapegoat to get what they want for the next Mass Effect game from EA.
Do you think BioWare would have developed a much better Anthem or Dragon Age: The Veilguard if it had focused on one title at a time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔
Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.