Bioware GM Discusses State Of The Studio Including Rebuilding Its Reputation, New Remote Hiring Initiative

Gary McKay is the general manager at Bioware and has published a blog describing the status of Bioware’s studio in the year 2022. The post provides some insight into the company’s development and cultural goals moving forward, as well as light updates on its upcoming projects.

You can read the full post here, but one of the biggest takeaways is Bioware’s acknowledgment of previous missteps and its mission to get back in the good graces of its fans. McKay states that “When I took on the GM role, I talked about rebuilding our reputation, and that remains a huge priority. We are laser-focused on building back the trust of our fans and community, and we plan to do that by delivering the types of games that we are best known for and ensuring they are of the highest quality.” McKay touts the positive reception of Mass Effect Legendary Edition, which hits Xbox Game Pass today via EA Play, as a significant morale boost for the teams, and the target Bioware wants its future titles to hit. 

Dragon Age 4

Bioware was faced with a difficult task during the COVID-19 outbreak. McKay states that they have learned important lessons from this adjustment, and are now working to shift their work structure towards a hybrid of employees who can be remote and those in the office. McKay announced that the studio would begin hiring new staff from across North America. This will not require them to move to their offices in Edmonton (Canada) or Austin (Texas). “Our goal is to lean into the things that everyone likes about working from home, while also giving people the opportunity to return to the office with more flexibility,” says McKay 

The studio will soon release Legacy of the Sith (a new expansion to Stars Wars: The Old Republic), in terms of video games. McKay also gives the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect titles some lip service but only to reiterate that the development teams remain hard at work. McKay, especially for Dragon Age, reiterated the team’s desire to build a single-player game that is focused on making choices that are important. Last month, Bioware said it planned to shed more light on Dragon Age 4 sometime this year. 

It’s good to see Bioware adopt more flexible hiring and work policies and that Mass Effect Legendary Edition’s success has had a positive impact on the studio’s morale. It appears that the studio is in a better position than it was previously. Let’s just hope they can keep moving forward. 

[Source: Bioware]