[Megathread] Mass Effect Andromeda

[RuneDK]

Never say never.

I highly doubt EA would stop using their own distribution service for their games

[Eleccybubb]

Never say never.

Why would EA stop using their own platform?

[callipygoustp]

The last proper EA published game released on Steam was Warp, in March of 2012. The last product of any form was Sims 3 DLC in October of 2013. The last "major" game they published on Steam was Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in February of 2012. The last EA developed game released looks like it was either Crysis 2 in March of 2011. They have Origin now and it's got a solid install base. They have no reason to return to Steam and lose the 30% cut of sales Valve takes.

They're not returning, and "never say never" is a dumb saying. Though it's one word short ("again") of being a great Bond flick.

LOL oooookay!

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Why would EA stop using their own platform?

Selling their games through another vendor in no way implies that they would stop using their own platform.

[Edge-]

Selling their games through another vendor in no way implies that they would stop using their own platform.

It would cut into 30% of their sale of each game (Valve's cut on Steam, the same as most digital storefronts), likely cannibalizing sales through their own platform. Sure, they'd get access to a bigger audience, but they'd lose money on each sale through Steam that wasn't through Origin.

Short of Origin somehow completely closing down for some reason, the chances of them coming back to Steam are infinitesimal.

[callipygoustp]

It would cut into 30% of their sale of each game (Valve's cut on Steam, the same as most digital storefronts), likely cannibalizing sales through their own platform. Sure, they'd get access to a bigger audience, but they'd lose money on each sale through Steam that wasn't through Origin.

Short of Origin somehow completely closing down for some reason, the chances of them coming back to Steam are infinitesimal.

Yah, that's important. Unlike waiting for the sale price of $4.99. If ME:A was made available through Steam at $4.99, I doubt the 30% hit from Steam would be a major concern for EA.

[PACOX]

A game by a different name and Andromeda might have done better. The animation thing is a hit or miss. Wasn't a bad game IMO but not up to par to the trilogy. Really wanted to see them expand upon the story. Oh well.

I feel like they wanted the trilogy to be the end but developed this game due to demand/proof-of-concept.

[Highwhale]

To be honest i'm starting to hate BioWare - back in early 2000s i played first KoToR and loved it. This game showed me new great RPG orientated company. And i followed them to Mass Effect 1-2 and DAO. But then shit gets real. Ending of ME 3 was bullshit (i still blaming Hudson tard for it) second DA was... weird anime like shit with forcing gay stuff around. Then DAI and Andromeda... gods those modafockers ruined ME universe and put it in coffin. DAI was ok with some good story (last DLC) but game changed from dark fantasy to simple fantasy. Its like reading ASOIAF and then pick Hobbit.

[Lahis]

Casey Hudson is also working on Anthem.

Don't expect any new MEs untill few Anthem sequels have come out.

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A card game? Dude.... don't give them ideas =/

How about a Farmville type mobile game?

"Mass Effect: Colony Builder".

[WarpedAcorn]

My main reasoning for not really excited for Anthem has to do that I'm not interested in another multiplayer game. If it turns out that it has a really good single player campaign then I might consider it. But if it's like a lot of the multiplayer games out there that just have a bare bones, 8 hours at most, single player campaign then I will most definitely pass.

I'm not expecting much from Anthem, but I know its possible to have a short but memorable single player campaign. I think Titanfall 2's Campaign is 5-6 Hours, but it has to be one of the best FPS storymodes I've played (run through it 3 times myself and watched 1 LP of it). I didn't play much of its MP, but its Storymode was well worth the cost of admission.

[Nerraw]

Casey Hudson is also working on Anthem.

Don't expect any new MEs untill few Anthem sequels have come out.

To be fair, he's technically working on everything in his new position.

[rhorle]

It doesn't tell you anything. He would like to work on ME sometime in the future whoop dee doo. It's not up to him to make that call either way.

Casey Hudson is the General Manager of Bioware. He will have a large part of the decision on a future game in the Mass Effect universe. Though he won't have the only say since there is still a few positions above him at Bioware.

[Highwhale]

Casey Hudson is the General Manager of Bioware. He will have a large part of the decision on a future game in the Mass Effect universe. Though he won't have the only say since there is still a few positions above him at Bioware.

Wasn't he fired after ME3 collapse ending? I remember reading news where he leaves BW.

[Nerraw]

Wasn't he fired after ME3 collapse ending? I remember reading news where he leaves BW.

He left by his own accord, he didn't get fired. If they were gonna fire him for the ME3 ending, they would have done it much sooner. He stayed for almost 2½ years after ME3 was released.

[rhorle]

Wasn't he fired after ME3 collapse ending? I remember reading news where he leaves BW.

This is the blog post about his good bye. He definitly wasn't fired but office politics/drama could have encouraged a change despite his words. But 16 years is a lot for one place and he might have felt like he couldn't grow. Regardless it paid off as he went from a project manager on Kotor and ME3 to now the general manager of all of Bioware.
http://blog.bioware.com/2014/08/07/c...rom-biowareea/

His return post is here as well where it seems like he learned some new methods/tech when he worked with Microsoft.

http://blog.bioware.com/2017/07/18/coming-home/

[Jastall]

No, that's them trying to save face on an investors call. Yeah, it drove revenue growth compared to the same quarter last year, because all they had for Q1 last year was Plants vs. Zombies 2, so no fucking duh.

But notice how they didn't say shit about revenue numbers? Sales numbers? Actual metrics that would give us the faintest hint of how the game performed? Notice how there wasn't a single announcement about strong sales numbers at all, at how the only time it was even vaguely hinted at was the vaguest comment you can get on an earnings call?

That's a bullshit comment meant to try to avoid making it look like a total shitshow to investors. You can bet your ass that it didn't meet, or even surpass their sales expectations though.

It's largely for laughs rather than being a super meaningful data point, but remember when folks came across this at Goodwill?



This is not normal for a game that was a few months old at the time.



Did you follow any of the fallout afterwards? Literally all the information coming from staff before launch, and especially after launch, pointed to BW Montreal being a complete and total shitshow of incompetent management. That's what caused the majority of the problems. EA hasn't had a "heavy" hand in the day to day operations or more granular decisions for years, they don't do that. They maintain an eye and help shape the overall direction, but they're not making decisions about animations, for example.

EA put the trust in Montreal that they'd deliver, it was clearly misplaced because Montreal flat out couldn't cut making a AAA game on their own. They cemented their status as nothing more than a support studio, which is a damn shame.

Sometimes, publishers give their support studios a shot at playing ball with the big boys and not just being relegated to "that studio that gets listed in the credits well after folks have exited out of credits if they can.", and that's a great fucking thing. It gives a lot of talented teams the chance to really show off what they can do when given the reigns. And with BW already working on another Dragon Age after Inquisition 3 years back, Edmonton working on Anthem, and Austin still working on SWTOR (and whatever else), they weren't going to do shit with Mass Effect for years unless they gave Montreal a shot.

This is purely, 100% on Montreal for fucking this up. EA didn't even seem to have insane expectations a la Dead Space 3, even.

EA never reveals sales figure, ever, even for titles that sell like hotcakes such as EA Sports. In fact few publicly traded game companies do, Activision Blizzard being another example. The best you get is ''it surpassed our expectations'' like Inquisition and (if I recall correctly) Battlefield 1 did.

Now Andromeda didn't and the management problems are obvious enough when playing the game. But beyond these generalities it's hard to say if the game really tanked or if it just came a bit short.

[Lahis]

Now Andromeda didn't and the management problems are obvious enough when playing the game. But beyond these generalities it's hard to say if the game really tanked or if it just came a bit short.

It has sold, what, about 1.5 million copies? For somethign that was as high profile as Mass Effect, that is abysmal.

[Jastall]

It has sold, what, about 1.5 million copies? For somethign that was as high profile as Mass Effect, that is abysmal.

What is the source on that? Please don't say VGChartz.

[I Push Buttons]

What is the source on that? Please don't say VGChartz.

Based on their own digital sales figures and NPD figures for physical copies, about 2.8 million copies.



http://files.shareholder.com/downloa...d_Comments.pdf

Hey we can finally extrapolate some real sales numbers based on that info.

PS4 Physical: 1,010,000
Xbox One Physical: 550,000
PC Physical: 100,000

PC Digital: 300,000
Console digital (34% of console sales were digital according to the above report): ~800,000

Total sales: ~2,760,000

The game had a budget of $100 million Canadian monopoly dollars (~$80,000,000 USD), which includes development and marketing.

Let's assume 2,460,000 non-Origin sales brought in $36 each (full $60 MSRP minus the store's, manufacturer's, etc., cut)... ~$90 million USD. Add in Origin's 300,000 sales of $60 each since there is no middle man, $18,000,000.

Once again, assuming all of these copies sold for full MSRP... The game made ~$108,000,000 over a budget of ~$80,000,000. That is even worse than we expected.

[rhorle]

Mass Effect isn't shelved for good. I'm going to say that once Anthem is released and the next Dragon age that they will start on the next Mass Effect. They would be silly not for the reasons why he says they will likely revisit the IP.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea.../1100-6452822/

For Mass Effect as a franchise, that has such a big fanbase, and you know I've seen people saying 'Oh, EA's not making another Mass Effect'. I see no reason why we shouldn't come back to Mass Effect," he said. "Why not? It's a spectacular universe, it's a loved [series], it has a big fanbase, and it's a game that has done a lot for EA and for BioWare."

"What we need to be careful though of is, whenever we bring Mass Effect back again, we have to make sure that we bring it back in a really [relevant] way, and in a fresh, exciting place," he added. "That's my job, and that's Casey's [Hudson] job, and BioWare and the Mass Effect team's job, to figure out what that looks like, and that we don't know yet, but we will."

[Edge-]

Mass Effect isn't shelved for good.

Nobody has reasonably said it is, just doom and gloom folks being hyperbolic and wanting to shit on EA.