While it’s very true that the video game industry can be a blast work in, there’s also a very big inherent danger within it. Mainly, if you make a big game, and sometimes if you just make a game, and it doesn’t do well, the dev team will suffer for it more times than not. Failed titles have led to the shutting down of numerous developers, and even some publishers like SEGA (in regards to them no longer making consoles). And now, some are wondering if Bioware will be next if Anthem fails.
Why do they think this? Well, the last major release Bioware had was Mass Effect Andromeda, which was panned by fans and critics for not being as good as the original trilogy, no looking full finished. And Anthem has already been delayed twice. So you can understand why they feel this way.
A former employee of Bioware, James Olhen, spoke to GameInformer about this notion and had this to say:
“No. The more success that a studio has, the more freedom and resources that it has, so obviously BioWare wants to have success with Anthem because that will be good for the studio as a whole. However, I think EA is looking for BioWare to be a long-term part of the company. I think EA really respects what BioWare brings to it.”
He added, “BioWare is a lot different than all the other aspects of its business, so, even if Anthem doesn’t do as well – and I think it’s going to be great – but if it doesn’t do gangbusters I don’t think that’s the end of BioWare. I think it will simply be a chance for BioWare to learn some lessons and apply it to the next game that comes out.”
That’s a fair assessment, and it should also be noted that Bioware is also working on other games other than Anthem, including the next Dragon Age title. So it looks like they’ll be around for a while.
