One of Zombie Bioware's limbs has just been absorbed by EA Motive. BioWare Montreal's creative and technological distinctiveness will be adapted to service EA. The studio's existence, as you know it, is now over. Resistance is unprofitable.
As with all zombies, Zombie BioWare won't truly die until its nervous system is rendered inoperable. A short while after the release of Mass Effect: Andromeda, I put together a little piece in honour of the now dead and very zombified New Bioware. Cries of "pure speculation" and "ur just bashing BioWare for no reason" followed.
Fast-forward 5 months, and BioWare Montreal is no more. The studio is now part of EA Motive and working on Battlefront 2 as well as another unannounced Star Wars game.
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"The teams in EA Worldwide Studios are packed with talent, and more than ever, we’re driving collaboration between studios on key projects. With multiple major projects in development in Montreal, we are merging BioWare Montreal with Motive Studios. This is an ongoing process, but there are many exciting roles and opportunities for everyone on the team", is the way EA described the initial phase of assimilation back in May.
Let me filter out the PR-speak for you real quick:
"The teams in EA are packed, more than ever. We're driving studios on projects. With projects in development, we are merging BioWare Montreal with EA. This is a process, and there are many roles for everyone."
There, that's more like it.
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EA has addressed its shareholders recently. The report never outright states any figures regarding Andromeda's performance, but generally praises the game as a contributor to growth in several aspects of EA's business. The publishing giant got what it wanted out of BioWare Montreal - a quick buck supported by BioWare's brand, along with a field test of Frostbite and various multiplayer/microtransaction systems for the upcoming Anthem. Why else do you think Andromeda only got multiplayer DLC, with only minor fixes to the singleplayer?
What is currently left of BioWare is now working on Anthem and Star Wars games. Star Wars is always a safe bet from a money perspective, and once the hype-machine gets to grinding for Anthem there will be little chance of the game failing as far as EA is concerned. Zombie BioWare lumbers on.
