Dulfite said:
I don't get how teams that have multiple blockbuster AAA games don't make more studios? I guess they don't have enough funding to begin with. I'm shocked EA has made another studio at Bioware that way they could be working on two AAA games at the same time (not including TOR). I'm also surprised MS hasn't done the same with Bethesda. They should be making two of Elder Scrolls mainline, Fallout, Starfield, or new AAA games at all times. Doing one after another is ridiculous when they take 5-6 years each. These massively popular studios are becoming one game per generation companies (if that). |
Well, middle of last decade, Bioware actually had 3 studios, Bioware Edmonton (the main studio that made games like KOTOR, Mass Effect 1-3, and Dragon Age 1-3), Bioware Montreal (Mass Effect Andromeda), and Bioware Austin (they made the MMO Star Wars The Old Republic, and assisted Bioware Edmonton on Dragon Age Inquisition). After Mass Effect Andromeda flopped, EA shut down Bioware Montreal, leaving them with just 2 studios. Then, over the summer this year, EA made the decision to sell SWTOR to another developer, and many of the developers at Bioware Austin quit to move to the new SWTOR studio, while around 50 Bioware devs were fired back in August (as I recall those 50 fired were mainly Bioware Austin devs who were angry about EA selling SWTOR and being forced to work on Mass Effect and Dragon Age). Those that remained at Bioware Austin instead of quitting or being fired are now assisting on Dragon Age 4 and Mass Effect 5.
So there are actually two studios currently working on Dragon Age 4 and Mass Effect 5, roughly 140 devs at Bioware Austin and about 320 devs at Bioware Edmonton if I'm not mistaken. However, even with that many devs working on Dragon Age 4 now, it will still take about another year to finish it. Then the majority of devs will move to Mass Effect 5, with a smaller team staying behind to develop DLC for Dragon Age 4 presumably. Then finally, probably sometime in 2026, DLC support for Dragon Age 4 will end and the entire 460~ devs at Bioware will be working on Mass Effect 5 pretty much.
Agreed about Bethesda, now that they have 3 IP's to work on Xbox really needs to build out separate teams for each of the 3 IP's.
Last edited by shikamaru317 - on 09 November 2023