An interesting concept from the studio that Andrew Wilson, the CEO of Electronic Arts, continues to trust.
Dorian Kieken, who formerly was BioWare‘s development director, revealed to The Gamer that they had a brilliant idea shortly after releasing the first Mass Effect: „We explored a game concept back in 2008, a bit after the shipping of [the first] Mass Effect, where you were playing a Han Solo type of character in a Star Control-inspired game in the Mass Effect universe. The game was intended to expand the Mass Effect universe and be done in parallel [with] the trilogy.
I like the idea of exploring a ‘greyer’ character, akin to a smuggler/pirate type in the Mass Effect universe. It also allows you to see the world from a different point of view than one of the chosen super-soldier. It’s a bit like exploring the Star Wars universe without being a Jedi, or the Warhammer 40k universe without being a Space Marine. I think having ‘greyer’ types of characters, defined as not being aligned with the universe’s good or bad guys, and also not attached to any major factions like pirates, allows you a large breath of exploration that you don’t have when you are the saviour of the galaxy. Think of the story freedom you have in TV series like the Mandalorian or Firefly thanks to mercenaries or smuggler character archetypes,” Kieken said.
Wilson – during Electronic Arts‘ quarterly financial earnings report – talked about BioWare, who hasn’t been successful with its recent titles (Mass Effect: Andromeda, Anthem): „[…] on BioWare, again, that is an incredible studio filled with incredible people who do incredible work. And I think that from the outside wall, there have been some blips in their delivery over the last couple of years, but that has come as a result of them pushing deeply into innovation and creativity. And we feel very, very confident about their future road map and we’ve talked about games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect in their future.
Concerning Casey [Hudson] and Mark [Darrah] leaving, again, both good friends of mine. We have tremendous respect for both of them. But this happens in the natural course of creative organizations from time to time. And we feel very, very good about the ongoing leadership of that studio and the many people who come to work every day to deliver great innovation and creativity. We look forward to sharing more about what’s coming from BioWare shortly. You will have just seen our Mass Effect trilogy Legendary Edition announced and that has been extraordinarily well-received by BioWare fans, so we’re encouraged by what that studio will continue to deliver,” Wilson said.
He can’t say anything bad about the studio in front of shareholders…
Leave a Reply