ANTHEM - failed Destiny clone from BioWare

[vortex]

How do we know this kotaku source hadn't make this up?

 

[Infinitron]

And speaking of (justified) smugness

As an example, the developer brought up the unique feel of Destiny’s large variety of guns, something that Anthem seemed to be lacking, in large part because it was being built by a bunch of people who had mostly made RPGs. “We really didn’t have the design skill to be able to do that,” they said. “There just wasn’t the knowledge base to be able to develop that kind of diversity.”

lmao

Source: https://badgame.net/index.php?topic=50824.msg13816497#msg13816497

 

[vortex]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...thems-surprise-100-million-in-digital-revenue

Anthem made 100 mill $ since release. Even more than Apex legends.

 

[Loostreaks]

The part about Bioware scrambling a private demo to impress EA's CEO, is freaking hilarious.

"knowing that the best way to impress Söderlund would be to make a demo that looked as pretty as possible. And, after some heated arguments, the Anthem team decided to put flying back in."

“He turns around and goes, ‘That was fucking awesome, show it to me again,’” said one person who was there. “He was like, ‘That was amazing. It’s exactly what I wanted.’”

 

[Atlantico]

Anthem made 100 mill $ since release. Even more than Apex legends.

Right, but we have to translate that to corporate speak.

Anthem made 97 million bad money (spit spit grrr) and 3 million good money.

Apex made 90+ million good money and no bad money (bad money bad)

So the corporate monkeys really don't care much about initial sales, they want micro-transaction money. Anthem makes 100 milllion the first month and then chump change after that. Apex will be cashing in 100 million every month.

 

[fantadomat]

Anthem made 100 mill $ since release. Even more than Apex legends.

Right, but we have to translate that to corporate speak.

Anthem made 97 million bad money (spit spit grrr) and 3 million good money.

Apex made 90+ million good money and no bad money (bad money bad)

So the corporate monkeys really don't care much about initial sales, they want micro-transaction money. Anthem makes 100 milllion the first month and then chump change after that. Apex will be cashing in 100 million every month.

Also anthem costs like 400 millions. Seven years of development is not cheap.

 

[vortex]

Right, but we have to translate that to corporate speak.

Anthem made 97 million bad money (spit spit grrr) and 3 million good money.

Apex made 90+ million good money and no bad money (bad money bad)

So the corporate monkeys really don't care much about initial sales, they want micro-transaction money. Anthem makes 100 milllion the first month and then chump change after that. Apex will be cashing in 100 million every month.

I don't think they distinguish "bad or good" money if there is this word for it. The more the better.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

This is the cunt that got fired from arenanet for being a cunt and attacking customers.

 

[Atlantico]

I don't think they distinguish "bad or good" money if there is this word for it. The more the better.

Right. Perhaps I'm not getting through.

They distinguish between a one-time cash-return on an investment and a continuous cash-return on an investment. The former is high risk, low reward, the latter is relatively low risk, high reward.

 

[True Ukrainian]

Wasn't Price also forced to leave Paizo because of her conduct? Price is notorious in SJW circles as an attack dog to the point where even an SJW friendly company like Paizo asked her to leave.

 

[The_Mask]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...thems-surprise-100-million-in-digital-revenue

Anthem made 100 mill $ since release. Even more than Apex legends.

These numbers are almost always speculation, since American videogame companies don't release their actual numbers, but even so - this is measured against 7 years of production, which I'm pretty sure it did not come cheap.

And even further, EA now relies a lot on the "games as a service" fleecing whales and dolphins, which Anthem casually fails at.

No one is happy.

 

[Steamboat Willie]

Every time Bioware has a flop they lie and pretend it was only in production for 18 months. That is literally the exact number of months they claimed Dragon Age 2 had, as if it somehow excuses the problems.

Exact same with Androgyna, too.

http://archive.is/K5Cua

Mass Effect: Andromeda was in development for five years, but by most accounts, BioWare built the bulk of the game in less than 18 months. This is the story of what happened.

 

[Rahdulan]

Every time Bioware has a flop they lie and pretend it was only in production for 18 months. That is literally the exact number of months they claimed Dragon Age 2 had, as if it somehow excuses the problems.

Exact same with Androgyna, too.

http://archive.is/K5Cua

Mass Effect: Andromeda was in development for five years, but by most accounts, BioWare built the bulk of the game in less than 18 months. This is the story of what happened.

I think it's hilarious if true, though.

People deservedly rag on EA, but put yourself in their shoes for a moment. You had Andromeda that went nowhere for years until the last year and a half of intense crunch to get something out only to get a dismal reception and presumably disappointing sales. At the same time you have an even bigger project going on and it's going through exact same growing pains except result is somehow even worse. After those two I'd be out for blood.

 

[Reinhardt]

It's wrong to be paid for "sitting around all day and thinking Big Thoughts" but fine to be paid for crying in crying rooms and taking naps in unused offices.

 

[fantadomat]

 

[Infinitron]

Casey Hudson internal letter leaked to Kotaku:

BioWare Boss Addresses Studio Issues, Vows To 'Continue Working To Solve Them'

The head of BioWare addressed a Kotaku report on the studio’s cultural issues yesterday afternoon, acknowledging that “these problems are real” and promising that it is “our top priority to continue working to solve them.”

On Tuesday, Kotaku posted an investigation into what had happened behind the scenes on Anthem, a story that also dived into cultural problems impacting BioWare’s current and former employees. The piece discussed indecision, mismanagement, and the production practice referred to as “BioWare magic,” a belief that with enough hard work—and enough crunch—every project will coalesce at the last minute. The article also detailed the stress, depression, and anxiety that has led dozens of employees to leave BioWare over the past two years.

EA and BioWare chose not to respond to our requests for comment, instead publishing a blog post that read to many as dismissive and disheartening. (“We don’t see the value in tearing down one another, or one another’s work. We don’t believe articles that do that are making our industry and craft better.”)

The company stayed silent for the next day and a half, other than asking employees not to speak to press. Then, late Wednesday, BioWare general manager Casey Hudson sent a note to staff (obtained by Kotaku) that addressed the piece. You can read it in full here:

Hey BioWare,

I wanted to get a note out to you to share my thoughts on the Kotaku article and the online discussion it has raised.

The article mentions many of the problems in the development of Anthem and some of our previous projects. And it draws a link between those issues and the quality of our workplace and the well-being of our staff. These problems are real and it’s our top priority to continue working to solve them.

What we found out-of-bounds was the naming of specific developers as targets for public criticism. It’s unfair and extremely traumatizing to single out people in this way, and we can’t accept that treatment towards any of our staff. That’s why we did not participate in the article and made a statement to that effect.

When I was offered the opportunity to return to BioWare as GM, I came into the role knowing the studio was experiencing significant challenges in team health, creative vision, and organizational focus. I was - and continue to be - excited to help drive improvements in those areas because I love this studio, and above all I want to create a place where all of you are happy and successful.

I’m not going to tell you I’ve done a good job at that, and on a day like today I certainly feel like I haven’t. But some of the steps we’ve taken towards this include a more focused studio mission and values, so that we have clarity on what we are here to do and how we define a high standard for our studio culture. We updated our studio structure around a matrix so that department directors can be fully focused on individual career support and well-being. We are defining better role clarity so that people can succeed better against clear expectations. And we are putting in place production changes that will provide for clearer project vision as well as a significant post-production period that will further relieve pressure and anxiety on teams during development.

But I know there’s much more to do, and we will talk in more detail about other actions we have been planning in response to internal feedback and postmortems at next week’s All-Hands. As always please continue to provide feedback on further steps we can take to make BioWare the best possible place to work.

I’m committed to getting us to a place where we are delivering on the highest expectations for BioWare games, through a work environment that’s among the very best in the world. With your help, we will get there.

Please let me know if you’d like to talk in person and I will be happy to set up time to hear your thoughts.

Casey​

Since the publication of this week’s article, I’ve heard from a number of developers who work or have worked at beloved AAA game studios with messages like, “Replace BioWare with [my studio] and it’s the same story.” We can only hope that continuing to talk about and report on these issues will lead to widespread change.

 

[Dexter]

The head of BioWare addressed a Kotaku report on the studio’s cultural issues yesterday afternoon, acknowledging that “these problems are real” and promising that it is “our top priority to continue working to solve them.”

It's time to solve these problems, EA.

 

[Lambach]

It's amazing how after reading all of this, fucking Söderlund, the man behind gems such as: "How do I tell my 13-year-old daughter there were no sassy, feminist otherkin black lesbian cyber wombyn fighting in World War 2?" is the only person in the entire debacle who doesn't come off as a complete and utter imbecile. Unreal.

 

[Angthoron]

It's amazing how after reading all of this, fucking Söderlund, the man behind gems such as: "How do I tell my 13-year-old daughter there were no sassy, feminist otherkin black lesbian cyber wombyn fighting in World War 2?" is the only person in the entire debacle who doesn't come off as a complete and utter imbecile. Unreal.

Did he actually say this? What the shit?

 

[Lambach]

I'm exaggerating. The exact quote:

"We felt like in today's world—I have a 13-year-old daughter that when the trailer came out and she saw all the flak, she asked me, 'Dad, why's this happening?'" Soderlund said.

"She plays Fortnite, and says, 'I can be a girl in Fortnite. Why are people so upset about this?' She looked at me and she couldn't understand it. And I'm like, ok, as a parent, how the hell am I gonna respond to this, and I just said, 'You know what? You're right. This is not okay.'"

The trailer in question is the one with the chick with the prosthetic arm being all badass and shit.

 

[Angthoron]

I'm exaggerating. The exact quote:

"We felt like in today's world—I have a 13-year-old daughter that when the trailer came out and she saw all the flak, she asked me, 'Dad, why's this happening?'" Soderlund said.

"She plays Fortnite, and says, 'I can be a girl in Fortnite. Why are people so upset about this?' She looked at me and she couldn't understand it. And I'm like, ok, as a parent, how the hell am I gonna respond to this, and I just said, 'You know what? You're right. This is not okay.'"

The trailer in question is the one with the chick with the prosthetic arm being all badass and shit.

Ahhh right, now I remember. Thanks. It's pretty amazing how the next generation has to suffer because of their parents' ignorance. I mean, what's so hard? It's ahistorical. Just say that there's history buffs that feel it's not doing the right service to history.

IS IT REALLY SO FUCKING HARD.

 

[The_Mask]

Casey Hudson internal letter leaked to Kotaku:

Please let me know if you’d like to talk in person and I will be happy to set up time to hear your thoughts.

Casey​

This only solves the "Bioware Edmonton staff is overworked" problem, while the 2 biggest ones are still going to be left unsolved. Either Casey is doing what he can because EA higher-ups told him status quo will not change OR he's an asshole that wants to bail Bioware Edmonton upper management.

Either way this, essentially, spells out the death of Bioware.

 

[Angthoron]

Thing is, BioWare has been in this mode for ages now. I have some friends that had to quit with a burnout as far back as at Mass Effect 2. Claiming they had no fucking clue is really, really fucking rich.

 

[DemonKing]

For me one of the most telling things about the failure of Anthem coming out of the article was the complete lack of direction - endless meetings without decisions being made may be par for the course in the public service, but death when you're trying to produce a commercial product within a set time frame and resources.

Up until DA2 I was genuinely excited when each new Biogame came out, as aside from some missteps with NWN, the quality of their products was generally fairly consistent and despite some occasional poor design choices (i.e. KOTOR minigames or the unnecessary over-pandering to a tiny audience seemingly wanting to screw gay blue aliens) the overall product was generally solid.

The "Biioware Magic" is long gone and the Bioware brand has taken such a reputational hit lately I can't see it recovering. Might as well put it out of its misery for good and move anyone worth a jot over to FIFA.

 

[RepHope]

Thing is, BioWare has been in this mode for ages now. I have some friends that had to quit with a burnout as far back as at Mass Effect 2. Claiming they had no fucking clue is really, really fucking rich.

Yeah one of the interesting bits of the article was that what happened with Anthem and Andromeda has basically been the status quo at Bioware. It’s just that they’ve been lucky enough and crunched hard enough that somehow things worked out. But now things aren’t working out anymore and it’s starting to bite them in the ass.