Panic at BioWare Montreal?

I think that is a bit to much doom and gloom. The Edmonton studio is working on the new IP and Dragon Age 4. The Austin studio is rumored to be working on a new Star Wars title. If this game flops there will certainly be people that has to answer for it, but they wouldn't cancel on going projects worth millions of dollars because of that.

Well, the 20th will probably be the judgment day of Bioware's future. Mediocre reviews or worse, the future will be very bleak for them, maybe like Westwood after C&C Renegade. Well, I can always hope that Larian will deliver with DoS2 or even wait for Cyberpunk 2077, I don't like Obsidian that much...

Without getting in whether or Andromeda is good or bad, I'll just say;

If Andromeda under-performs, or even tanks in terms of sales numbers I would be very shocked to see EA do anything more than a managerial shuffle at Bioware Montreal. Possibly some people in position of authority getting let go and replaced by others. Shuttering the studio would be unlikely, in my completely un-informed opinion.

I also don't think Andromeda will tank. I think the sales numbers will be respectable, but lower than the shareholders and suits at EA forecast by a small degree -- but I believe this was going to be the case regardless of the quality of Andromeda (excepting if it had been exceptional, which is clearly isn't) due to a number of issues outside of Bioware Montreal's control.

Given that Inquisition had the best launch of any Bioware game and positive critical reception (yes yes, not as glowing as TW3 or Breath of the Wild or whatever, still positive overall), Andromeda would have to tank very hard for EA to seriously consider shutting them down. If DA2 and ME3's ending weren't enough to kill Bioware, I strongly doubt Andromeda will be.

Given that Inquisition had the best launch of any Bioware game and positive critical reception (yes yes, not as glowing as TW3 or Breath of the Wild or whatever, still positive overall), Andromeda would have to tank very hard for EA to seriously consider shutting them down. If DA2 and ME3's ending weren't enough to kill Bioware, I strongly doubt Andromeda will be.

The funny thing about this comic is how many years people have been posting it.

The animation issue was pointed out long ago...and they've still not corrected it even though Bioware stated they were working on it. WTH? I would be fired at my job if this happened.

All EA understands is shareholder demands. If they had a backbone. they would say "Hey, complex RPG's take time to develop and get right." You don't see Elder Scrolls or Fallout games being pumped out every couple of years do you? And when they do hit the shelves there are plenty of bugs, so what's that tell you? Development of these types of games isn't easy.

I commend Bioware for having a great shell of a game. I despise EA for not allowing them to flesh it out properly. Because shareholders demand a ROI asap. Maybe Bioware should develop their game to allows for mods...we gamers can save them!