BioWare Shutdown & EA Layoffs — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:04] Wow. So, yeah, like 30 minutes ago, it was announced that Boware is getting shut down. They posted this statement saying, "For more than 30 years, Boware has been more than a studio. It's been a home for storytellers, developers, and

[00:19] the players who brought our worlds to life. Balders's Gate, Neverw Winter Nights, Star Wars Nights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, ANTHEM. WHY? IT'S like a jump scare. Why would you even include Anthem here? That

[00:32] was the beginning of the end. Why not at least sail off into the sunset with the happy memories of like the bangers that Boware used to be known for instead of sliding Anthem in there? That's like trying to remind people of the time that

[00:45] you face [ __ ] them. Like what's the point? That's just not that wasn't worth putting there, I would say. Now, after more than three decades of shared adventures, Boware is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect

[00:57] project is ending. There's nothing easy about writing those words. Our focus team who put their hearts into these games and supporting one another through this transition. What generations of Boware built together is something to

[01:12] became so much more because you played them, debated your choices, fell in love worlds your own. From all of us at Boware, thank you for being the most meaningful part of our story. Boware. EA also announced that they're laying off

[01:28] about 3% of their workforce, which is roughly 400 staffers. Again, this isn't the most jaw-dropping information that's going to have you, you know, shocked and

[01:40] it for comfort because you couldn't have seen this coming. With EA going private, that massive deal that was signed a little while back, they weren't exactly shy about what strategic direction they were going to go. This wasn't something

[01:56] that was a secret or anything. But still seeing it unfold here with the closure seeing it unfold here with the closure of Boware is just a bit wild. But I really don't think anyone's like in disbelief over it. For a while now,

[02:11] they've been on a bit of a blunder run. Andromeda dropped the ball. And in fact, I was so disappointed with Andromeda, it's what started the moist meter. I I Mass Effect fan, even though I was disappointed with Mass Effect 3's

[02:25] disappointed, and immediately [clears throat] started reviewing games really recovered. They went from that into [ __ ] Anthem, which was unplayable on launch really. Like the

[02:38] Like everything about Anthem I thought was just terrible. They eventually started to respond positively, but by that point it was too late. Most people had already been burnt and lost interest. So that was just a backto back

[02:51] double whammy sludge super slam going from Andromeda to Anthem. That's going from Andromeda to Anthem. That's going from piss to poop, bro. And they still never found their footing. They tried to go back to like their bread and butter

[03:05] with Dragon Age with Veilgard, but that also didn't perform super well. And again, I didn't really like it that much either. So like Boware in its, you know, twilight years here was kind of a shell of its former self already. It was it

[03:23] was limping through the the modern gaming space here. It's also important to remember that EA themselves played a direct role in the demise of Boware, like with their quality circling the [ __ ] for so long. This wasn't just a

[03:38] one-man band here. While yes, Boware on its own two legs had some arthritis and kept spraining their ankle constantly, it was only exacerbated by problems with EA's meddling like with um trying to make pivots and certain things and like

[03:52] the publicly available information there, there were a lot of like problems and friction with EA themselves and Boware, which only made the issues at Boware worse. But ultimately, yeah, Boware became a very different company.

[04:07] Boware became a very different company. the talent that Boware used to have that was no longer really there and intact in the same capacity and they were just slowly bleeding out over time and just losing direction and it it just got bad.

[04:23] But I just wanted to remind people that EA isn't exactly blameless in everything that happened with Boware. They did also have a hand in it too. So really it was Boware and name only. It was kind of just already a corpse and it was just a

[04:39] matter of when, not if. The writing had been on the wall for a while. They are an expensive studio. They take a long time on their games. And if those games come out and flop, well, they lose a ton of money. So, eventually the the plug

[04:54] was still a chance they'd let them finish the Mass Effect project that they had kicked off there just for like one final Hail Mary, one last URA to see if they can once again find that fire in their belly and deliver something of

[05:09] high quality. But I guess there wasn't a whole lot of faith in that one being the whole lot of faith in that one being the slam dunk that they needed. So, they did finally take them out behind the barn here and closing the the book on Boware,

[05:23] which again, it's not the most surprising thing given where Boware has surprising thing given where Boware has been in recent years, but it was still a been in recent years, but it was still a legendary studio responsible for iconic

[05:36] bangers, beloved titles, and they didn't even mention them all in that statement. in there, yet they decided to slide Anthem there. their biggest [ __ ] blemish, their biggest zit. Interesting choice. And again, I don't want to yap

[05:51] too much on it, but I mean, I think that's also uh very symptomatic of where Boware is now to where it was that they would include Anthem in this when that is literally the main thing people point the finger at as like a yeah, that's

[06:05] when Boware really [ __ ] died with Anthem. Like, come on. You know what I'm that this is a studio that is responsible for some amazing games from

[06:17] back in the day. Games that people still talk about to this day. So there is a lot to be proud of with what they accomplished. Compare that to something like Halo Studios recently getting axed, getting [ __ ] banished to the back

[06:30] rooms there to the shadow realm. Halo Studios has nothing to be proud of. So had nothing to show for the time that they existed in this corporeal dimension. Boware has so many achievements that they accomplished

[06:43] early on in the studios history, but it is truly a shame where they ended up. is truly a shame where they ended up. So, yeah, again, it not super surprising it is here is still one of those things where it's like gh

[06:57] wild to see that happen. Now, to dive more into the overall EA news here, like I mentioned, they're laying off around 400 employees here, uh, as a result of their restructuring and their strategic path forward. When this deal was done,

[07:13] it was pretty clear that they were going to be making a push for like reinvigorated uh, muscle and elbow grease behind live service. You know, once again, just chasing that white whale. Fundamentally,

[07:28] they're just approaching live service with gusto. Kind of similar to Sony's live service in shitative. That was a catastrophic disaster. EA is now attempting to put a huge emphasis there as well. I guess we'll see how it goes.

[07:44] 6, saying it's a great success and we learned a lot from the launch and the live service and going forward in addition to future Battlefield titles. Respawn and DICE Studios to collaborate on a future project. Multiple sources

[07:59] are saying that this is Star Wars Battlefront 3, which we'll see. Battlefront 2 ended up being a really good game after a lot of tweaking and tinkering. So, that's pretty cool if that's true, if that rumor is accurate.

[08:13] and they are allegedly investing heavily in Apex Legends over the next few years to introduce more to it, which again that's pretty cool. Obviously, you know, I really like Apex Legends, but it's been in a bad state for a little while

[08:28] now. It's been neglected. It could use a little WD40 here, you know, a little bit of lubrication here to maybe spring it back into action, bring it back to life in the mainstream a bit more. They were also talking about their commitment to

[08:42] like their action adventure games, talking about Marvel's Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game. And then they of course had EA Sports be a pretty big thing here. But something kind of interesting there is that they mentioned

[08:55] Fight Night. So, looks like there might be a new Fight Night on the horizon here with the pre-production starting on one, which is pretty cool cuz I actually used And then finally, they talked about The Sims and Skate, talking about how they

[09:09] are going to prioritize efforts on Project Evergreen for The Sims to give potential and vision for the game and help make this possible. We're pausing development on Project Lotus. And then Skate, they're making changes to the

[09:23] studio to have a more focused, smaller team to deliver on a very clear roadmap build a healthier and more sustainable business. So, this was their latest announcement after the private equity deal with Saudi Arabia's public

[09:37] investment fund Silverlake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners. That was Kushner's Affinity Partners. That was the $55 billion deal, which was [ __ ] crazy amounts of claims. I talked about it when it was happening and now it's

[09:50] here and we're seeing the direction that EA is claiming they're going and what they're going to be focusing on and what they're going to be doing. Do I have any faith in EA to actually deliver anything of meaningful quality to live service

[10:04] titles? No, I really don't, unfortunately. I would love to be proven closely paying attention to how they like they mentioned Battlefield 6 there,

[10:18] And you know what happened after it was successful? They laid off a ton of employees. Like, so even being successful is often not enough for some of these studios. And I wonder what they're going to do differently with

[10:33] Battlefield now. Like six was successful by all definitions. What are they going to do to make it even more successful? Like I I'm just very curious to see what Like I I'm just very curious to see what that looks like. And I just EA is a a

[10:48] respect. So, like the things they're claiming on paper do sound cool. How is What what is it actually going to look like is what I'd like to see. So,

[11:00] anyway, I just wanted to talk about this a little bit. It's pretty crazy seeing a former titan of the gaming industry shut down. RIP to Boware. Anyway, that's down. RIP to Boware. Anyway, that's really about it. See you up.