Developers of Mass Effect 5 should allegedly use Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a pretext, enabling them to obtain desired resources from Electronic Arts, according to a former BioWare executive.
In the gaming industry, the upcoming Mass Effect game is highly anticipated, especially as it stands as BioWare's only known major project in development. Despite not being directly involved in the development of Mass Effect 5, former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah has offered some insightful advice.
Darrah, who left BioWare in December 2020, along with Casey Hudson, suggests using Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a "scapegoat" for resources for Mass Effect 5. The reasoning behind this is rooted in Darrah's experience with Veilguard, a project that he believes absorbed significant studio resources despite its developmental issues.
Veilguard, originally conceived as a live-service game, evolved into something unfocused, carrying legacy baggage because it lacked consistent executive producer oversight after Darrah left. The project's confused nature, being "four games stitched together," meant it was consuming resources without clear progress or cohesion.
Darrah's candid assessment underscores BioWare’s internal struggles adapting to live-service ambitions under EA's leadership and the impact this had on the studio’s flagship RPGs. Shutting down Veilguard would have freed energies and funding to better support future games, including Mass Effect 5, serving as a "scapegoat" for resource allocation and studio focus.
Darrah also believes that focusing on one game for Mass Effect 5 will make its development cycle less messy compared to previous titles. However, he warns that having a single project like Mass Effect 5 can lead to a "boom and bust" situation, where the team gets big and then has to slim down.
Meanwhile, the success of GTA 6 will serve as a real indicator of the industry. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is seen as a strong signal that players don't just want live-service games. The Mass Effect series and BioWare as a whole are in need of a comeback, and Mass Effect 5 is being closely watched to see if it can deliver a successful game.
As we await the release of Mass Effect 5, Darrah's insights as a BioWare veteran from the beginning of the Mass Effect series still hold significant weight. His advice serves as a reminder of the importance of clear focus and resource management in game development, lessons that BioWare may have learned from their experiences with projects like Veilguard.
- Mark Darrah, a former BioWare executive producer, suggests reallocating resources from a struggling project, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, to Mass Effect 5 due to its consumption of studio resources without clear progress or cohesion.
- Darrah believes that focusing on one game for Mass Effect 5 will make its development cycle less messy compared to previous titles, but cautions about the potential "boom and bust" situation that can occur from having a single project.
- The gaming industry is closely watching Mass Effect 5, as it is BioWare's only major project in development and in need of a comeback after facing internal struggles adapting to live-service ambitions.
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a non-live-service game, is seen as a strong indication that players don't just want live-service games, which serves as a reminder for game developers to prioritize focus and resource management in game development.
