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EA's BioWare will lay off 50 and cut ties with unionized Keywords playtesting group (venturebeat.com)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by ampersandrew@kbin.social to c/gaming@kbin.social

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Neither the layoffs nor breaking ties with a playtesting company that knows their worth in the market sound like they're going to help BioWare make RPGs that can compete with Baldur's Gate 3, formerly a BioWare series.

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[–] HolyDuckTurtle@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Damn, even if it's coincidental like the article suggests; those two things happening at once is NOT a good look for Bioware. Especially with BG3 being such a huge success.

However, some slim silver lining for those being laid off is that EA/Bioware appear to be handling the situation more gracefully than others. From the article:

McKay said that EA chose to act now to provide impacted colleagues with as many internal opportunities as possible. These changes coincide with a significant number of roles that are currently open across EA’s other studios. Impacted employees will be provided with professional resources and assistance as they apply for these positions. Those departing will receive credit in the game.

I highlight the last part because removing people from credits is a shit thing to do and I'm glad to see them overtly state this will not be the case. Hopefully this is not just PR BS and the laid off employees get new roles quickly.

[–] Glaive0@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Not gonna lie. I read that as “in-game credits” and was curious why you were lauding EA for pulling something worse than company scrip.

The fact that this is notable tells a lot about the industry, and where major publishers can add low-stakes, low-cost value to their dev positions by just beating out others in the industry getting notoriety for being worse. It’s still good that they’re doing it, but it costs them 30 minutes of someone’s time to do something most publishers should be doing as a standard practice.

[–] sirspate@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

True, as long as the game isn't cancelled. Though I suppose that'd be the end of the studio if it were cancelled.