Recently, I’vediscussed my concernsaboutBioWare’s future, especially given both the news of major staff layoffs and the glowing future ofLarian Studiosas its potential successor. I’ve been a fan of BioWare’s work sinceDragon Age Originsdropped, and I want to believe that things will get better. But recently, there’s been more bad news coming out of the company.
First of all, seven former employees of BioWare have filed a lawsuit against the studio seeking fair compensation following their layoffs. The lawsuit highlights EA’s proprietary games engine, Frostbite, as a crucial factor in determining the amount of severance owed to employees.
Pointed out by Kotaku’s Ethan Gach in a tweet,the lawsuit contendsthat the severance offered to the employees fell significantly short of their expectations. In Alberta, employees working for the same company for more than 10 years are entitled to just eight weeks of pay under the Employment Standards Code. However, leveraging common law standards, which consider economic factors and job market challenges, could potentially secure better compensation for the ex-BioWare employees, whose average tenure is 14 years. Given the current state of the game development industry, they may need to look beyond the province or even the country for new employment opportunities.
I hope that the employees who’ve been displaced are able to get the severance pay they deserve. I’m additionally concerned and wishing the best for the unionized Quality Assurance (QA) workers for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf who were unexpectedly laid off recently, which has me wondering what it means for the future of Dreadwolf and BioWare as a whole.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Needs To Evolve Bioware’s Romance System
… and Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC could show it the way.
History was made last year. A unanimous vote (16 to 0) from the QA contractor team led to the formation of a union. These contractors were employed by Keywords Studios, based in Edmonton, Canada, marking the country’s inaugural game industry union.
The journey towards unionization began in April 2022, sparked by concerns such as being mandated to return to the office, even when full-time BioWare employees had the option to work remotely. This inequity in work arrangements drove the contractors to organize. As a result, Keywords Studios revised its policy, allowing all workers a hybrid work-from-home alternative. The workers also raised grievances regarding Keywords' time off policy and compensation, which reportedly initiates at $15 CAD (approximately $12 USD), the minimum wage in Canada.
Unfortunately, in late September, Keyword Studios made a significant decision to terminate the contracts of these unionized QA workers. This move came after BioWare’s choice in August not to renew its contract with them. These layoffs had a significant impact on the development of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, especially considering that the project isin its Alpha phase. It raises concerns about how the reduced workforce will affect the critical testing phase of the game.
QA testers play a critical role in ensuring the final game meets high standards of functionality and our experience of it as gamers. They search for bugs, glitches, errors, or defects within the game across various aspects such as graphics, gameplay mechanics, and audio. They rigorously evaluate each feature and functionality to confirm that they work as intended. In other words, the QA people are the reason why many of us love the games that we do. They ensure that our experience is as smooth as it can be within their game’s respective development parameters.
Would You Really Want Dragon Age To Be Like Baldur’s Gate 3?
Among fan calls for Larian to take over major RPG IPs, let’s stop to think what that would actually mean.
Given Bioware’s continued desire to have inclusiveness in its games, writing some of the most compelling LGBTQIA+ characters in video game history such as Dorian Pavus, it would mean that BioWare’s QA testers were making sure that they hit the mark on continuing this culturally-evolving streak. As a queer gamer myself, I wonder how this will affect the quality of the inclusivity in Dreadwolf.
It’s hard not to feel concerned about Dreadwolf’s status overall. The QA testing layoffs makes me wonder if there’s some significant rework being done. There were rumors floating about in the past year or so that Dreadwolf was potentially going to be released between September 2024 or spring 2025. Could this mean that the game is going to be pushed back even further than that?
For years now, especially with howAnthemandMass Effect Andromedaturned out, I’ve been in the camp of “take as much time as you need, BioWare,” but the further Dreadwolf sinks into the pits of development purgatory, the less I’m keen on the idea that more time will develop a great game. Witnessing the development of Dreadwolf take so many significant changes has me wondering if the end result will be a hodgepodge mess of great ideas smashed into one game, signifying that it took too many queues from so many chefs in the kitchen, so to speak.
All these recent developments raise questions about the direction BioWare is heading, particularly in its treatment of staff and its impact on future projects, including the next Mass Effect game. Despite the expectation of a robust development process for these projects, it seems EA is systematically reducing BioWare’s workforce.
But what these reductions will do, it’s hard to tell at the moment. I’m desperately hoping that my favorite developer bounces back, but I can’t be blind to the woes that these changes stir within me as a long-time fan.
One thing I can say for sure is that it is no longer the BioWare I fell in love with years ago. My love for the new, developing version is cautiously still there, but I’m scared of fully embracing something I feel is so unclear about right now.
