Following the recent release of Electronic Arts' financials, sources close to the company have spoken up about BioWare's future following the lukewarm reception to the highly-anticipated Mass Effect: Andromeda. This news comes from Kotaku, who have spoken to multiple sources close to the Canadian development studio.
According to the article on Kotaku, Mass Effect: Andromeda developer BioWare Montreal will be getting sized down, making the studio a support studio that'll be working on other studios' games instead of in-house projects. A sizeable chunk of employees at the studio has been transferred to EA Motive to work on Star Wars Battlefront II. BioWare Montreal will also be helping out with an unannounced game which will probably be announced at this year's E3. They will also continue working on Mass Effect: Andromeda's multiplayer.
Kotaku managed to get a quote from BioWare Montreal studio director Yanick Roy:
Our teams at BioWare and across EA put in tremendous effort bringing Mass Effect Andromeda to players around the world. Even as BioWare continues to focus on the Mass Effect Andromeda community and live service, we are constantly looking at how we’re prepared for the next experiences we will create.The teams in EA Worldwide Studios are packed with talent, and more than ever, we are driving collaboration between studios on key projects.
With our BioWare and Motive teams sharing studio space in Montreal, we have BioWare team members joining Motive projects that are underway. We’re also ramping up teams on other BioWare projects in development.
There will be much more to come from BioWare in the years ahead.
Mass Effect: Andromeda was the first entry developed by BioWare Montreal and was meant a reboot to the franchise. Unfortunately, the franchise has now been shelved after the game garnered a lukewarm reception, with both fans and critics (our review is can be found here) noting the game's poor animation quality and rushed story.
What do you think of this news? Are you disappointed they won't be working on new Mass Effect games for the foreseeable future? Let us know in the comment section down below!
