„EA gives you enough rope to hang yourself.” BioWare co-founder recalls working at the studio
Fitting in with Electronic Arts is nothing easy, but Greg Zeschuk doesn't think the company restricted BioWare's freedom during his time at the studio.
Greg Zeschuk doesn't have fond memories of working at BioWare when it was under Electronic Arts, but he also doesn't think the publisher had a notably bad influence on the developer.
As we have already mentioned, the co-founder of the studio was considering taking over leadership at Electronic Arts. However, these plans fell through, and he ultimately left the company. It was clearly resulting from the relationship between his team and the publisher. At least that's the conclusion we can draw from his conversation with Simon Parkin (via the My Perfect Console podcast / PC Gamer).
Rope from EA and freedom of BioWare
Zeschuk did not mince his words and stated that "EA gives you just enough rope to hang yourself," referring to the process of fitting into the structures of Electronic Arts. The dev is actually quite satisfied with how it turned out in the case of BioWare. Nonetheless, it only reinforced his belief that he "doesn't like big companies." Therefore, already in the second year after being taken over by EA, he knew that he would not stay in the company (via Eurogamer).
What might be unexpected, however, is that Zeschuk denied popular rumors that EA was pressuring BioWare - the company was meant to allow the studio to work independently. Some of the developer's actions puzzled the publisher's representatives, such as developing games for Facebook or mobile devices under a guise. Zeschuk claims that some of the worst practices - especially the tendency to crunch - appeared even before the studio was taken over.
In theory, we could argue that this contradicts popular claims that EA immediately "ruined" BioWare after acquiring the studio. However, there is also the situation of another team, which enjoyed freedom - allegedly as long as they succeeded in keeping Electronic Arts' "headquarters" uninvolved in their activities. Not to mention that BioWare's recent failures provide a strong argument for ers of this theory.
As for other reasons for this aversion, we already mentioned it. Zeschuk believes that big companies exist to "exploit" their brands. This partly aligns with the statements made by the head of Gearbox Software about the fears large publishers have regarding experimentation. On one hand, there are the expectations of fans, and on the other, the expectations of investors. As he mentioned, in the case of well-known series, large amounts of money are involved, which causes concern for people in high positions.
Xbox and Jade Empire
Apart from EA's influence, or the absence of it, on BioWare's actions, Zeschuk also shared some intriguing facts from his career as a developer. For instance, about the worst decision in BioWare, which was made on the advice of Microsoft.
It's about the release of Jade Empire, specifically its launch on the original Xbox console. The Redmond giant convinced Zeschuk that the release of this oriental RPG at the end of this platform's "cycle" is a good idea.
Looking back, the creator described it as an "absolutely stupid decision." The first Xbox didn't break any sales records (this generation was dominated by the PlayStation 2, released 1.5 years earlier), and by the end of its "life," it was rarely purchased. After all, everyone was waiting for the Xbox 360, which to this day remains the most successful console of Microsoft.
Regarding controversial decisions: the developer also addressed the ending of Mass Effect 3, which upset players to the extent that BioWare released an extended version. Zeschuk didn't have much to do with this (as he was focused on the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic), but he is convinced that the developers' "intentions" were "good."
The creator also highlighted the issue of expectations placed on a well-known brand - from both fans and "massive business conglomerates," pushing to meet deadlines. He, along with Ray Muzyka (another founder of BioWare), preferred to postpone the release until they could achieve the "best possible game."
