The Old Republic lead designer quits BioWare?
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Tweets claiming to be from Daniel Erickson indicate longtime Electronic Arts developer and Star Wars MMO creative director looking for new work.
It appears BioWare is facing even more high-level turnover. Tweets from a newly created account claiming to be BioWare lead designer and creative director Daniel Erickson suggest he has left the development team on Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Rumor of Erickson's departure from BioWare's Austin, Texas branch were sparked in September when the developer updated his LinkedIn page to say he was "actively looking for new opportunities."
An Electronic Arts representative was not immediately available for comment.
If true, Erickson joins a host of other longtime BioWare staffers to have left the company recently. BioWare Austin cofounder, producer, and vice president Richard Vogel left the company in July, and is now heading up new Bethesda outfit Battlecry Studios.
Additionally, BioWare founders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka announced their retirement from the company last month. This followed a restructuring of BioWare Austin in May, which may have cut as many as 200 staffers from the studio.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
141 comments
Another one bites the dust.. might aswell just go start a new developer studio the amount that are leaving bioware at this point...
You never know, something good might come from everyone we know leaving Bioware. They're games have become state regardless of the Producer.
1 Like It was fast. Bioware went down the drain very quickly. EA bought it to develop TOR. When it failed, everything started falling apart. I can't help but ask myself: are the founders happy? Was it worth it? Or should they have remained independent and still have a legacy to talk about 10 years from now instead of being forgotten as will certainly be the case?
1 Like I see nothing to worry, these talented designers and programmers will start new companies that will hold to the same principles and quality as the companies they had started prior to being absorbed by EA.
First they screwed up with SWG , now they wanna screw Star Wars: The Old Republic .. looks like someone hates starwars MMOs !! i think starwars would make the perfect MMO , if given to the right developers .
1 Like @darkvaper Star Wars:The Old Republic isn't a bad MMO I really enjoyed it when it came out waited years for it and didn't feel it to be a waste, but there's nothing new about it "well it's a mmo" is about all you can say. Would i play it over WoW? Yes am i playing WoW or SWTOR? No i'm not why would i when Guild wars 2 is just as if not more fun and I don't have to pay a dime each month to enjoy it.
$15 a month was fine when nothing else was out so i'd play and play and play tell the game wasn't fun to get my moneys worth, now i can play when i want(this week sure next week i'm busy ex....) and only spend money(if i want some cool toy item or something) when i want too i like it that way some months i spend more than $15 sometimes i wont spend a cent for months at a time.
@OldKye I haven't tried GW2 , i tested Star Wars:The Old Republic and bought the game .. i do enjoy it .. to for me i dont know why it lacks some elements !
WoW is a great game , in my opinion Wow developers know how to add stuff in the right way and in the right time .. i never get board for there patches and expansion releases ..the game is Phenomenal and so inspiring !
For sure its better to play a game that doesn't keep draining your wallet like a slot machine .. but if you are paying that amount of money in exchange of great content and high quality serves .. i wont mind !
My vision to Star Wars:The Old Republic was a bit different from what developers at Bio ware had in mind !
@skyklg I'm sure it's not the last we hear of this guy, he's sure to be picked up by a (or start his own) company to continue to develop great ideas.
@torres_unix Gabe Newell said he would rather disassemble valve then ever sell out and and I can't see CD Projekt Red selling out.
I don't like when things going wrong people are leaving ok you mad a mistake the game didnt go as you expected so stay and work togther to make it better, and don't just leave :(
Bioware is going to hire new people with new idea and things just going to be better i think and i hope.
1 Like Cliffy B is too good for BioWare. When the creative director leaves SWTOR and BioWare.. it's pretty obvious where this is going..
I guess the rumors were right about EA attributing the failure of Mass Effect 3 ending and subscription rate of SWTOR to the guys at the top
4 Like "Who would've thought this would be happening today?" That's what my friend's cousin asked me today. My response: Just about every gamer who has watched EA destroy dev houses in the past in exactly the same way.
Some of us actually remember the glory days of BioWare; not the crap they've been releasing under the EA label. Whenever someone claims that Mass Effect 3 or Dragon Age 2 is BioWare's best game to date; I cringe as something dies inside of me.
7 Like This is a win for gamers. Let the Devs and publishers know that WE are the backbone of the industry.
Even though it may mean the death of a once loved dev thats what it takes to MAKE them listen!
3 Like so first the founders, now this guy......hmmmm EA is doing their homework for the renewal on the year of the worst company!!!
More like BioWare f'ed it up. EA gave funding, BioWare's eyes got all big and everything went over their heads. They couldn't handle the responsibility of putting gamers/customers first. That's what happens when all people see is money and lose all passion for their craft.
@Elann2008 @themightybear66 Im pretty sure EA did more than just give Bioware funding. If that were the case then Mass Effect 2 and 3 wouldn't have been more shooters, Dragon Age 2 wouldn't have been well.....Dragon Age 2, and the Mass Effect 3 ending has rushed written all over it.
7 Like Well, I'd say BioWare's about to be put on the EA chopping block pretty soon; the company's pretty much been gutted at this point. Another developer I loved has ended up destroyed by EA. Unfortunately, they're running out of big name developers to ruin... I bet you they'll aim their sights on DICE as the next company to drive into the ground.
8 Like EA has a nasty habit of killing talented development houses. The major exodus behind Bioware's key staff is just the latest segment of this long chain. Anybody remember Bullfrog Productions? Westwood Studios? Maxis? Mythic? EA guts these studios and force them into a creatively-bankrupted environment with their poor business decisions.
As for those who say Bioware should not have sold out to EA, the story is more complicated than that. EA acquired the Bioware / Pandemic partnership (VG Holding Corp) from its owner Elevation Partners. Since Bioware / Pandemic was privately held by this equity group, fighting this transition would be difficult to do on Bioware's end. Needless to say, Bioware is rapidly becoming a shell of its former self.
1 Like This is the next stepping stone on a long sad road of decline. We'll miss you Bioware. *sniffle*
I am guessing that this has to do with the nature of working for EA, not Bioware, as that goes...
3 Like Don't want to be that guy, but I said this will happen when EA/Bioware announced that KOTOR was going mmo. KOTOR3 would have kicked so much ass.
3 Like "Electronic Arts developer and Star Wars MMO creative director looking for new work". Looking at the upper-most picture above, I suggest he pursue a career as Jason Statham's stunt double :P
Cant blame just EA for this its also BioWare's directors who accepted the deal to be bought out and its them who lead the gamer designers on what projects they have to do and how its run. They are leaving for either better projects or personal reasons simple as that but EA is not to blame here fully
7 Like @Dav_id83 EA ruins developers. We see it over and over again. Agree, that we cannot fully blame them for ruining BioWare. The founders of BW made the first mistake by agreeing to be bought by EA. Being owned by EA is basically career suicide if you're a developer.
1 Like Maybe now we can have a real sequel to the Knights of the Old Republic franchise!
*fingers crossed* :)
9 Like EA is a lot like the Reapers: they destroy great game companies before they become too big and by doing so allow smaller companies to be able to grow and make great games themselves for a time, then they destroy them before they become too big.
EA cannot allow anybody to become as big as them, because then they'd lose money and EA cannot have that.
7 Like
Don't act like EA is the sole villain here. These companies accept EA's money to be bought and owned by EA. These companies could easily refuse the money, especially if they're a powerhouse like BioWare.
Like I said below, if you make a deal with the devil despite knowing it's the devil, it's your fault for making the deal.
@TruthTellers Your right, remember just recently a news article came out that brought to light the fact that Valve refused to be bought out by EA. Bioware are partly to blame for this , however if I was offered bags of money I would sell out too not gonna lie.
@musalala @TruthTellers The point is, you already have bags of money. You go from a position of having bags of money + a legacy in gaming to having more bags of money + nothing
@RogueJedi86 @TruthTellers Well Said.
What is happening is these developers cash-in on their success by taking the pot of gold from EA. Then they grow weary of working under corporate tyranny and desire more freedom, so they leave, taking some of their pot of gold with them.
It is actually not a horrible cycle, it does cause the industry to keep refreshing with new small studios doing new things.
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Star Wars: The Old Republic
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- Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
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- Genre: Role-Playing
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