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BioWare Mass-ing Montreal devs

Alberta-based developer establishing new 30-man team in Quebec to boost Mass Effect 2 efforts; will be housed in EA Montreal offices.

Anyone worried that Mass Effect 2 might slip from its launch window during the first quarter of 2010 can breathe a little easier. Today developer BioWare announced that it is establishing a new team in Montreal to focus on the sequel to the acclaimed sci-fi role-playing game, which Microsoft published for the Xbox 360 in 2007 and PC in 2008.

"Mon Dieu! C'est un Geth!"

Given that BioWare is now owned by Electronic Arts--which will publish Mass Effect 2 for the PC and "consoles" (plural)--it comes as little surprise that the new operation will be located inside the offices of EA Montreal. BioWare cofounder and general manager Dr. Ray Muzyka told GameSpot that his group will "work in partnership with the existing EA Montreal team" but would still report to him and his business partner, Dr. Greg Zeschuk. "It's still a BioWare Montreal team," he said.

According to Muzyka, the new group will complement the efforts of the large number of developers and designers already working on Mass Effect 2 at BioWare's headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta. The initial team size will be around 30 people, with job listings for Level Designer, Environment Artist, and Senior Environment Artist currently posted on BioWare's job site in English and--naturellement--French. Muzyka said that the team might also eventually assist with work on Dragon Age: Origins and the massively multiplayer project Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Opened in March 2004 after a brief legal spat with Ubisoft, which also has a major presence in the Quebecois metropolis, EA Montreal currently employs around 700 people. Its best-known games include SSX Blur, Boogie, and Army of Two.

161 Comments

  • W3En

    Posted May 3, 2009 3:37 pm GMT

    I really dislike it when EA or Micorsoft go and buy out smaller publishers or developers so they can make more money.

  • detege

    Posted Apr 3, 2009 4:55 pm GMT

    Please EA, pretty please, let quality be the top priority for this game. If this game is at least as great as the first one, I promise instead of just buying it, i'll also send spamming mails to all gamer friends to buy this game.

  • Big_To

    Posted Mar 30, 2009 7:16 pm GMT

    Oh man, Sanim02 hopes it'll come out for "Ps3 or Wii", making a game that was originally 360/PC exclusive port to Wii will drop the quality drastically. The scariest part about this is that it could happen, all because EA is the publisher...

  • elgerak

    Posted Mar 20, 2009 4:53 am GMT

    EA We are watching you........ Do not interfere in the creation of this or any other bioware game. Let them alooooone. Let them spent lots of time into things you ll never understand why they are necesary.. Fooling customers is always more profitable. bioware seemed to put their game quality in higher priority than profit.

  • IRTehHardMode

    Posted Mar 19, 2009 9:20 pm GMT

    If EA messes this up....I will punch babies

  • madglee

    Posted Mar 17, 2009 2:47 pm GMT

    "Muzyka said that the team [EA] might also eventually assist with work on Dragon Age: Origins..." Great, first the PC date is pushed to November for marketing reasons - read, "We'll gladly compromise PC design in favor of console controls/concerns" - and now they're going to let EA get their hands on it.

    I was excited about this game when it was supposed to be a spiritual successor to BGII and was being designed as a PC game, but my excitement has faded and I'm nearing the point of no longer caring.

    And why is this news content with only a blurb about Dragon Age, under the Dragon Age news? Seems like it has more to do with Mass Effect 2.

  • Toropore

    Posted Mar 14, 2009 11:13 am GMT

    There in montreal. Anything could happen. D:

  • xeuse51

    Posted Mar 12, 2009 9:34 pm GMT

    EA did ok with "Dead Space". However i still have no faith in them. They are ruining the game industry. Taking an exclusive title and making it cross console sucks. They need to leave the bioware developers alone. That way it will still be a great game without product placement and licensed music. Cant wait for this sequel.

  • flawless_blade

    Posted Mar 8, 2009 5:08 pm GMT

    EA, im watching you. screw this one up and ur... screwed... for lack of a better word.

    and this... : jason19

    Posted Mar 5, 2009 5:24 am GMT

    "well i hope lest the games cotnot form the end you pick the llvl went to kill lest stal over and world i hops so EA that be grast ident to put coutnin you do mission bay weapon and time restboot form frist part games i hope can selet lvl you went stal over go back where you are taht be better the get you a opoint to stal over or not hops mass effect made restboot misson better"

    is that english?!

  • sanim02

    Posted Mar 8, 2009 12:00 pm GMT

    The games gonna be sweet.. Hope it DOES go multiplat, I just can't play games on a PC.. Please come on PS3 or Wii Oh and BTW, MONTREAL RULES!!!... I wonder where it is so I can go there and get kicked out

  • airguitargiles

    Posted Mar 6, 2009 12:41 pm GMT

    I hope EA don't ruin this franchise...

  • Darthnaevus

    Posted Mar 6, 2009 10:27 am GMT

    whats that you say

  • jason19 posted Mar 4, 2009 10:25 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    jason19

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 10:25 pm GMT (hide)

    + you ship get suff i hope do that suck must stall over way back talk to all agin

  • jason19 posted Mar 4, 2009 10:24 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    jason19

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 10:24 pm GMT (hide)

    well i hope lest the games cotnot form the end you pick the llvl went to kill lest stal over and world i hops so EA that be grast ident to put coutnin you do mission bay weapon and time restboot form frist part games i hope can selet lvl you went stal over go back where you are taht be better the get you a opoint to stal over or not hops mass effect made restboot misson better

  • arcelonious

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 12:34 pm GMT

    For those that think Mass Effect 2 is going to come out on the PS3, I really wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it. Although I'm sure that Bioware and EA wouldn't mind going multi-"console"(seeing as Dragon Age is multiconsole) they probably would have a hard time doing it since the first Mass Effect was published by Microsoft Game Studios. Since the developers are making a game for players who have already played the first one, it would only do PS3 owners a disservice since they wouldn't have game saves from the previous Mass Effect. Thus, unless the first Mass Effect somehow manages to make its way to the PS3, I wouldn't expect a Mass Effect 2 PS3 release.

    And in regards to someone's comments saying that Bioware releases "buggy" games, I think they're confusing their products with sequels made from the other developer Obsidian. For example, Bioware developed the first Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights. The sequels, however, were made by Obsidian, and it is those sequels that are the ones that were lackluster and "buggy."

  • Copianames posted Mar 4, 2009 5:05 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Copianames

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 5:05 am GMT (hide)

    700 people at Quebecois and they can't make a half decent game?


    EA just ruined another game franchise.

  • ssfire8

    Posted Mar 4, 2009 12:56 am GMT

    this should be really cool

  • NAT3

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 8:01 pm GMT

    ea is going to ruin mass effect bio ware should go independent i dispise ea

  • GATX131Calamity

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 4:57 pm GMT

    thats what I'm worried about too jzdisturbed...

  • Darthnaevus

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 4:15 pm GMT

    YES YES! ahahah time to get a job as a QA tester now *evil laugh*

  • jzdisturbed

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 3:15 pm GMT

    my biggest worry is that EA will scrap some of BioWares ideas and make the game not as good.

  • rangeroo7

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 2:48 pm GMT

    Hollaback77 has no idea what he is talking about.
    like... there is no big players for the gaming world in Canada!!!
    what a stupid comment.

  • oldhead666

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 2:42 pm GMT

    phinch1 doesn't actually say that the xbox will die in 2010, they say "the xbox is going to die AFTER 2010 anyways "
    I think he's right all the consols will die sometime after 2010, be it 1 or 10 years they all will.
    i'm stoked for mass effect 2 and more developers will surely be a good thing, a more refined product than the first. For me that was the only thing that let mass effect down was its lack of polish.

  • Phaselinear

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 1:13 pm GMT

    EA is dragging itself down by weighing in on everything. It's bleeding stock everywhere, and it's shares are dropping fast. I really hate it when a great company like Bioware get's eaten by the monster (think micro"hard"), and then spit out when things don't work out. Mass Effect was my favorite game of 2007 (easily) and even ruled most of 2008. I guess just knowing that it will be back for phase 2 is good enough....for the time being.

  • Link1515

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 11:36 am GMT

    I can't wait for Mass Effect 2! The first game was amazing--loved every bit of it.

  • Waza19

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 10:55 am GMT

    the passionate quebecois will once again bring us a great game

  • boxofwit

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 10:35 am GMT

    I'm not sure if this is good or bad?

  • hassy94

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 10:32 am GMT

    I believe they said it will come "to PCs and consoles in Q1 2010" so you can't be sure if they mean multiple xbox consoles or just multiple console platforms

  • veiga_101

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 10:22 am GMT

    Yeah another great game that is being aided by my city!!!

  • valuum

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 10:20 am GMT

    Is it really coming to "consoles" or is that just GS mixing up its words? Correct me if I'm wrong but i believe that Riccitiello recently said that it would be coming to "multiple platforms", not "consoles" which could very well just be the 360 and pc. This is Pre-MGS4 all over again.

  • Mr_Versipellis

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 10:11 am GMT

    Uh oh... Bioware in an EA office? Wasn't their large independence from EA the only thing stopping us rioting when EA bought them out?

  • duhNeighbour

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 9:59 am GMT

    Tried it on both PC and 360, PC was better so I finished it on PC.

  • Koi-Neon-X

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 9:16 am GMT

    I don't own an Xbox 360 (yet) but, Mass Effect is a game I'd like own/play. After that I'll check out the sequel.

  • spinmastah

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 9:12 am GMT

    This is great news, The best part about this is how the old team is still doing most of the work and is still in charge overall. The extra team will just help them actually release the game on time!

    Those of you that are worried about EA messing things up... EA has actually been bringing it to the table recently and I really do not think that they will mess with a company that they purchased because of the large fanbase and awesome games that Bioware makes. EA getting them a bigger team should show that they want Bioware to get this game out the way they want it and still meet that release date!

  • SDMF_TrueBlue

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 8:16 am GMT

    Yeah, the 360 will die on 2010. No one will be playing Halo, Gears, Call of Duty, Left 4 Dead, or any other games... Biased, much? It people like you who give PS3 owners a bad name.

  • childofrock11

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 8:14 am GMT

    This is actually pretty promising really...a larger development team means they could get more accomplished in a shorter amount of time. As for me, i don't want an early release because i believe the longer good games are in development the better they become. Now this doesn't apply for everything of course.

    OH...and how can one say that "we" all know that the 360 will be dead in 2010? The way i see it is that Microsoft isn't the one who is in financial difficulty right now. I don't think "we all know" that the 360 will die in 2010...but we all do know that someone is full of uninformed, biased, ignorant, bull s***.

    P.S. I own all of the major consoles and handhelds for this generation and a majority of the past...and enjoy them all a ton...including the PS3.

  • thestrateger

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 8:04 am GMT

    mmm.... interesting...

  • Timmy_Jimmy

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 7:59 am GMT

    I hope they're able to solve the rendering lag that happened on the 360 version.

  • RJLateralus posted Mar 3, 2009 7:39 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    RJLateralus

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 7:39 am GMT (hide)

    Jesus... I am worried

  • freshgman posted Mar 3, 2009 6:23 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    freshgman

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 6:23 am GMT (hide)

    cool

  • xbox4life76

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 6:11 am GMT

    As a huge Mass Effect fan i can only hope this is good news for me and the other fans out there. I hope this results in a finer tuned game and a possible early release date...a man can dream.

  • -Intellectual-

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 4:56 am GMT

    @ phinch1

    You can not be trusted, because you gave the flop "Haze" a score of 10, showing your true fanbot colours.

  • freerunner01

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 4:55 am GMT

    Unless the next gen XBox comes out, I seriously doubt that it will "die" in 2010. Perhaps the PS3 has the better longevity because of the BD drive (I'm a proud owner of both) but XBL is far superior to the PS3 network and will not die in a year and a half...

  • Lance_Kalzas

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 4:52 am GMT

    Why would it die? Microsoft is making a profit off of the Xbox 360, which they did not do with the original Xbox and Sony is not doing off of the PS3 now. Why do you think the Xbox was pulled from production so early? If you were the owner of a company and a product was not profitable for you, wouldn't you stop making it and come out with something else? Take the fanboy goggles off because such disdain and hatred for a console serves no purpose.

  • phinch1 posted Mar 3, 2009 4:45 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    phinch1

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 4:45 am GMT (hide)

    I hate people saying if it does go on to ps3, they wont understand the story, i played the first mass effect on my xbox and enjoyed it,but now i have a ps3 and havnt been back to my xbox in ages, and if mass effect does the come to ps3, the only game ill be wanting on 360 then is alan wake and then for collectors reasons, i think we all know xbox is going to die after 2010 anyways

  • BelzebuVlad

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 4:44 am GMT

    mand_450

    I totally agree, they should calm down, and not worry about timings! or the gamer's will expect some Need for Sims on Mass Effect!

  • mand_450

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 4:36 am GMT

    This is on my list of most anticipated rpgs. But with EA as the publishers, everyone has a reason to be worried... Again. Imagine, Need for Mass Effect 2.

  • shadowkiller11

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 4:34 am GMT

    hey newb did you know that EA brought bioware and considering one said its coming out for PC and consoleS means its more than 360. don't worry both versions will be epic.

  • newb16

    Posted Mar 3, 2009 3:05 am GMT

    mjk_1 said would be so sweet if it came out on PS3 but if not I'll just have to get the 360 version.

    Let me put it like this, Microsoft has the rights to the game and Sony does not.

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