Bioware founders leave Bioware and retire from the video game industry - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Henry Fool · 09-18-2012, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarchHare

EA surely made them sign a non-compete clause when they bought BioWare. Let's see what happens in a year or two.

I don't think so. I don't see the need to speculate further than what the men say.

kyuusei · 09-18-2012, 04:34 PM

So maybe EA didn't force them out. They could have simply gotten tired of the way things were going. We won't know for a while. =P

Sad day for BW though.

MarchHare · 09-18-2012, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henry Fool

I don't think so. I don't see the need to speculate further than what the men say.

You really don't think EA made them sign a non-compete as part of the acquisition? It's an absolute certainty that they did.

Henry Fool · 09-18-2012, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarchHare

You really don't think EA made them sign a non-compete as part of the acquisition? It's an absolute certainty that they did.

Only a Sith deals in absolutes, bro. We don't know what's in their contracts. Even if there were some kind of clause that restricts them in the immediate future, there's no need for them to invent some bull honkey about retiring altogether.

MarchHare · 09-18-2012, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henry Fool

Only a Sith deals in absolutes, bro. We don't know what's in their contracts. Even if there were some kind of clause that restricts them in the immediate future, there's no need for them to invent some bull honkey about retiring altogether.

EA's lawyers aren't stupid. If they didn't include a non-compete, what's to stop the doctors from taking EA's money and using it to start a competing studio? So yes, I can absolutely, positively, 100% guarantee you that the purchase agreement when EA bought BioWare contained a non-compete clause.

Henry Fool · 09-18-2012, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarchHare

EA's lawyers aren't stupid. If they didn't include a non-compete, what's to stop the doctors from taking EA's money and using it to start a competing studio? So yes, I can absolutely, positively, 100% guarantee you that the purchase agreement when EA bought BioWare contained a non-compete clause.

I'm sure there are many things stopping them from taking EA's money anyway, but in any case the fact remains that they have no need to pretend that they're retiring from the business. It's EA, not the CIA, they don't have to lie about it.

Handsome B. Wonderful · 09-18-2012, 05:57 PM

I'm still bitter about the death of Origin.

Blaster86 · 09-18-2012, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Handsome B. Wonderful

I'm still bitter about the death of Origin.

I'm still bitter about the birth of Origin.

NuclearFart · 09-18-2012, 06:16 PM

They've completely walked away from established careers before, so it's not really a surprise if they're truly leaving this career path for good too.

Mike F · 09-18-2012, 07:08 PM

No idea whether EA would have forced them out, but it's not hard to imagine that after the company you lovingly built from the ground up becomes part of a corporate behemoth, and you become a cog in the machine, you'd lose the passion you had for the work.

If I'd been bought out by EA and became a multi-millionaire, and my job became loaded with corporate red tape, I don't think I'd have to be forced into retiring to a beach-side resort to spend my days sipping margaritas, nailing models, and playing video games.

CaramonLS · 09-18-2012, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henry Fool

I'm sure there are many things stopping them from taking EA's money anyway, but in any case the fact remains that they have no need to pretend that they're retiring from the business. It's EA, not the CIA, they don't have to lie about it.

If you think about it, with the NDAs they signed from EA with their resignation and the non-competes they likely signed, 'retiring' from the industry is really the only thing they could do.

They'd probably lose more money with severance payments than they could possibly make in the next 5 years if they signed up with a company like Activision-Blizzard.

But yeah, 2 resignations in the same day are just normal parts of business, right?

Henry Fool · 09-18-2012, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

If you think about it, with the NDAs they signed from EA with their resignation and the non-competes they likely signed, 'retiring' from the industry is really the only thing they could do.

They'd probably lose more money with severance payments than they could possibly make in the next 5 years if they signed up with a company like Activision-Blizzard.

But yeah, 2 resignations in the same day are just normal parts of business, right?

Nothing unusual about the doctors making the decision together, if that's what you mean.

There's no agreement that would absolutely force them to lie about retiring, but it's not out of the question that they would lie just to avoid questions about why they left. The problem is that there's really no reason to doubt them. It might make sense if you accept certain premises but there's no evidence to suggest that there's anything more going on behind the scenes. It's really the age-old conspiracy theorist's problem.

HPLovecraft · 09-18-2012, 08:43 PM

I doubt these guys had much creative input any more, anyway. The way BioWare has grown from its early days, and the fact that both have remained pretty active apparently in the business side of things leads me to believe their departure probably won't change too much. Unfortunately.

I fully expect to see them back in a couple years, probably at the helm of a new studio, to recapture the spark.

Blaster86 · 09-19-2012, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henry Fool

The problem is that there's really no reason to doubt them

There is tons of reason. Two major games their Dev house was in charge of completely #### the bed. One of these games was supposed to save EA as it spastically flails to keep up with Activision-Blizzard. I called this back before SW:ToR dropped and you can go back and read the thread if you don't believe me. The game will fail and within a year Bioware will be dismantled. When a dev house bombs after EA has lofty expectations placed on a project on a tight schedule they get eaten. We're on track.

Henry Fool · 09-19-2012, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaster86

There is tons of reason. Two major games their Dev house was in charge of completely #### the bed. One of these games was supposed to save EA as it spastically flails to keep up with Activision-Blizzard. I called this back before SW:ToR dropped and you can go back and read the thread if you don't believe me. The game will fail and within a year Bioware will be dismantled. When a dev house bombs after EA has lofty expectations placed on a project on a tight schedule they get eaten. We're on track.

That's not evidence, that's speculation. Honestly, how much would you be willing to bet that Bioware will be dismantled in the near future? You sound confident but really you're just guessing. TOR got them big losses, no doubt, but none of us actually know how highly EA values the Bioware brand and their work.

Blaster86 · 09-19-2012, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henry Fool

That's not evidence, that's speculation. Honestly, how much would you be willing to bet that Bioware will be dismantled in the near future? You sound confident but really you're just guessing. TOR got them big losses, no doubt, but none of us actually know how highly EA values the Bioware brand and their work.

You didn't ask for evidence, you asked for reasons.

Name your price. It's not speculation, it's following trends.

Henry Fool · 09-19-2012, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaster86

You didn't ask for evidence, you asked for reasons.

Name your price. It's not speculation, it's following trends.

I mentioned evidence in the next sentence (which clarifies the previous one; that's how paragraphs work). I said it made sense if you accept certain premises, and it's certainly not impossible, but I feel that sometimes it's good to be conservative with one's conclusions.

Even if it's following trends, that doesn't mean it's not speculation.

Deegee · 09-19-2012, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

I fully expect to see them back in a couple years, probably at the helm of a new studio, to recapture the spark.

That doesn't always work either. I remember Hellgate: London.

Mike F · 09-19-2012, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaster86

There is tons of reason. Two major games their Dev house was in charge of completely #### the bed.

Which two major BioWare games **** the bed?

SW:TOR certainly disappointed, but ME3 sold well despite criticisms of its ending, and there are already plans for another ME game from BioWare.

Henry Fool · 09-19-2012, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike F

Which two major BioWare games **** the bed?

SW:TOR certainly disappointed, but ME3 sold well despite criticisms of its ending, and there are already plans for another ME game from BioWare.

DA2 sold less than half of DA1, if recall correctly, but you have to look at that in relation to the development costs which may not have been huge in DA2's case, at least the development time was probably at least twice as quick as DA1's. TOR was insanely expensive and I'm under the impression that the Doctors were more involved with that than the other games, but that might be incorrect.

DA3 is coming late 2013. I'm excited to see what they do since DA2's flaws were so obvious that they should be easy to fix.