Electronic Arts' acquisition of BioWare in 2007 marked the beginning of a slow decline for the once-celebrated RPG developer, according to an opinion piece by IGN contributor Matt Purslow. The article posits that EA's corporate structure, driven by profit margins and a lack of understanding of the RPG genre, fundamentally undermined BioWare's creative vision and ultimately led to the studio's current struggles.
During the early 2010s, EA faced public backlash, including two "Worst Company in America" awards, partly due to releases like Mass Effect 3, Dead Space 3, and Crysis 3. The piece notes that EA's recent wave of layoffs, which has impacted around 700 employees across multiple studios in recent years, further highlights the company's strategic shifts. These shifts, the author argues, prioritize annualized sports titles and live-service shooters with significant microtransaction revenue streams, reflecting a business model that diverges from supporting creative ambition.
While acknowledging that BioWare's recent projects like Mass Effect: Andromeda, Anthem, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard have been met with disappointment, the article attributes these setbacks primarily to EA's influence rather than solely to internal studio issues. "I’ve chatted to enough veterans to know that BioWare succeeded despite EA’s ownership, not because of it," Purslow quotes, framing BioWare's situation as navigating a "ship with a saboteur in the engine room."
The desire for every franchise to become a billion-dollar endeavor, with a minimum 40% profit margin, created an untenable situation for BioWare. RPGs, especially the cinematic, character-driven titles that defined BioWare's early success, are inherently costly to produce and, compared to EA's sports franchises, have a more niche appeal. This financial pressure, the article suggests, led to compromises in game design, stripping away core RPG mechanics in favor of more accessible, action-oriented gameplay and streamlined presentation, a trend visible in games post-Mass Effect.
This pattern of acquisition, creative dilution, and eventual closure or rebranding has been a recurring theme for EA, with studios like Origin Systems, Bullfrog Productions, Kesmai, and Pandemic Studios facing similar fates. DreamWorks Interactive and Westwood Studios were merged and re-badged, while Criterion, known for its racing games, was repurposed to support the Battlefield franchise.
The article concludes by reflecting on EA's 1983 advertisement that questioned "Can a computer make you cry?" suggesting that the company now elicits tears, but not in the way it once intended. EA's future strategy, focusing on fewer, larger-scale projects, signals a continued consolidation of resources and likely a further move away from the diverse creative endeavors that once defined its acquired studios.