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BioWare writer David Gaider to helm 'Baldur's Gate' series
When longtime BioWare writer David Gaider announced his departure from the studio, many wondered where he would end up next. The answer shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. He's joining Beamdog, a game developer and distributor best known for the "enhanced" remakes of Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II. That's notable because Gaider started his career at BioWare working on Baldur's Gate II, before moving on to larger writing roles with Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and, most famously, the ongoing Dragon Age franchise.
Next Mass Effect snags Halo 4's lead writer, gets concept art
The next Mass Effect game from BioWare is being written by Chris Schlerf, the lead writer of 343 Industries' Halo 4. BioWare revealed Schlerf's role for the game today in a blog that introduced a few members of the its development team. The lead writer for Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, Mac Walters, is staying on for the next installment as the game's creative director. Schlerf joins the team as lead writer following the departure of the series' creator and executive producer back in August, Casey Hudson. In celebration of "N7 Day" today, BioWare hosted a developer roundtable via its Twitch channel to reveal pieces of concept art for the upcoming game and discuss the developer's visions and ambitions. Shying away from calling it "Mass Effect 4," the next game will emphasize space exploration and features the return of the series' much-maligned vehicle, the Mako. The team also noted that the game's protagonist will not start the adventure with "legendary status" like the previous hero, Commander Shepard. Check out our slideshow of the concept art shown during the livestream below, which certainly beats the teasers shown by BioWare last year. [Image: BioWare]
EA's BioWare touches on new Mass Effect, new IP at E3
Fans hoping to learn more about the new Mass Effect didn't have much to go on from EA's E3 conference, although BioWare did reveal it's working on a new IP. In a short video on the sci-fi follow-up, BioWare devs talked about new worlds, characters, and potential lovers in a "whole new region of space," rendered by the power of the new consoles. While BioWare Montreal is working on the new Mass Effect, the team at BioWare Edmonton is developing a "completely new IP." Again the discussion was nebulous, but the studio said it wants to take on "very contemporary stories" while realizing worlds that compare to the scopes of previous BioWare games. Along with those two projects, BioWare also has Dragon Age: Inquisition in development, and it's set to launch on October 7.
Next Mass Effect, Dragon Age 3 powered by Frostbite 3
Both the next Mass Effect game and Dragon Age 3: Inquisition use the Frostbite 3 engine, despite initial official word from publisher EA saying otherwise. An official press release for Dragon Age 3 from September 2012 said the upcoming RPG was underpinned by Frostbite 2. However, BioWare Montreal & Edmonton General Manager Aaryn Flynn, following some speculation, took to Twitter to settle the matter.Flynn tweeted: "For everyone who's been asking after the #BF4 reveal, #DA3 and the next Mass Effect are also using Frostbite 3. It's awesome."While the Dragon Age 3 press release was explicit, looking back certain BioWare devs were coyer on the matter. BioWare Montreal Studio Director Yanick Roy only said in a November 2012 blog post that DA3 used Frostbite tech, not specifically Frostbite 2. That correlates with the careful wording of DA3 Executive Producer Mark Darrah, who in an announcement post said his studio was working on a new game engine for DA3, and that it had "started with Frostbite 2 from DICE as a foundation to accomplish this."So Battlefield 4 isn't the only Frostbite 3 game confirmed to be arriving this year, as Dragon Age 3 is scheduled for a "late 2013" release.
BioWare Edmonton and producer Casey Hudson working on 'a whole new fictional universe'
During a panel this weekend at PAX East, Mass Effect producer Casey Hudson revealed that his team at BioWare Edmonton has started work on "a whole new fictional universe." Other details weren't shared, except that Hudson said that he and BioWare's Senior Creative Director Preston Watamaniuk are going to be "building something new" together.Hudson oversaw Mass Effect 3 as an executive producer, and he says he'll still serve that role on the next Mass Effect title. But that game is being developed at BioWare Montreal, so Hudson's team at BioWare Edmonton has moved on to something completely new. Hopefully we'll hear more about it soon.
Next Mass Effect gets a rough launch window of 2014 - 2015 [Update: Or not]
Update: Gamer Syndrome, the source of this interview, has removed its own story and provided the following statement: "This interview has been removed. The information provided previously by the author of this post was deemed to be obtained from an inaccurate source and NOT an official Bioware or EA interview response. We apologize for the inconvinience."Original story: The next Mass Effect game, in development at BioWare Montreal, has a tentative launch window of late 2014 to mid-2015, according to Mass Effect 3 producer Mike Gamble. Speaking to Gamer Syndrome, Gamble provided "rough idea on a release window" with the following estimate:"Late 2014 to mid-2015. I honestly can't tell you an exact because full development on the game started a month or two ago."In September BioWare outed a new Mass Effect game from series executive producer Casey Hudson, and in November we learned it would run on Frostbite, from BioWare Montreal rather than Edmonton, which handled the previous iterations."While I can't comment on why it changed studios, fans can expect a similar style of choices and action that they've come to know in Mass Effect," Gamble said. "Casey Hudson is very much involved in the new Mass Effect game, as well as many from Edmonton. BioWare Montreal is a great studio and they did fantastic with the multiplayer for Mass Effect 3, so fans should know the series is in good hands."The game isn't far along in development so I can't comment on specifics because they isn't any yet. Frostbite 2 is a really good game engine that we are also using on Dragon Age 3. As far as release date, there's nothing to be announced yet. You'll hear more about the new Mass Effect game in 2013."
BioWare Montreal's Mass Effect game runs on Frostbite
BioWare Montreal was largely responsible for multiplayer in Mass Effect 3, with some additional input on the single-player side like the upcoming Omega DLC, but it looks like the studio is ready to undertake its own game in the series. In fact, it already has – the next Mass Effect is already in the works at BioWare Montreal."To ensure a proper and effective transition, we'll continue to be supported by the Edmonton studio through the game's development, working with and learning from them on some critical initiatives," BioWare Montreal studio director Yanick Roy says in a blog post. Casey Hudson will still serve as executive producer from BioWare Edmonton, but the project director will be firmly entrenched in Montreal. Roy can't go into specifics on the new game, but he says it will be powered by Frostbite, which has been "enhanced by many of the systems that the Dragon Age III team has already spent a lot of time building."Roy also adds the team is looking to explore new gameplay avenues and story ideas – while paying respect to the heritage the original trilogy has built, it seems like the team at Montreal is looking for new directions to take the series in. "You can still expect the pillars the franchise is known for to be fully intact though, including diverse alien races, a huge galaxy to explore, and of course rich, cinematic storytelling," Roy adds.
Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' multiplayer DLC out next week, totally free
Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' multiplayer DLC launches on Xbox 360 next Tuesday, July 17, at a cost of zero space bucks. The content is multiplayer-focused, and that's about all we know – we're taking a wild guess that the locales it'll offer are based on Terra Firma regions.That said, if rumors from back in June pan out, the DLC will head to Rio, Vancouver, and London, and several new human classes will be added. BioWare has yet to confirm any new details about the content, but we expect to hear more in the near future.
Mass Effect 3 sales in US hit 1.3 million during launch month
Total Mass Effect 3 sales for its launch month of March were 1.3 million units across Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, the NPD informed Joystiq. The number covers purely new physical retail sales, so no digitally distributed product on PC or PS3 is tallied.Although the NPD doesn't publicly share sales breakdowns by platform, Microsoft executive Aaron Greenberg did share that Xbox 360 sales for the space opera were 943K units for the month.Mass Effect 2 had over a half-million sales on Xbox 360 during its debut month, with another quarter million the following month. We've contacted Electronic Arts for further clarification on Mass Effect 3 sales data.Update: "We think the monthly NPD reports are a very poor indicator of the industry's performance given the proportion of digital sales – including digital downloads via Origin, DLC, mobile and social games and much more – that are not captured in their reports," John Reseburg of EA's corporate communications told Joystiq. "Taking these reports as an accurate snapshot of the industry today is a dangerous assumption."
Ex-Raven dev Manveer Heir joins Bioware Montreal to work on Mass Effect franchise
Manveer Heir isn't just our winner of the coolest name for a game designer ever award, he's also just been hired by BioWare Montreal as a senior level designer for the Mass Effect franchise. Heir stepped down from his lead designer role at Activision-owned Raven Software in mid-June and has been on a mini-hiatus since then, only to announce yesterday -- alongside another big BioWare reveal -- that he would be heading up to Montreal. Heir ... aired his feelings about the change, tweeting, "I'm a big fan of the Mass Effect series, so to get a chance to join the team and help build an amazing game is such a tremendous privilege." When Twitter followers pestered him for specifics, he declined to offer more details, responding, "I cannot elaborate beyond Mass Effect franchise." Next up for the franchise is supposedly that "far reaching" Mass Effect ... thing, which has been teased to arrive early next year.
BioWare Montreal seeking multiplayer programmers with Unreal Engine experience
A job listing for "multiplayer programmers" has appeared on EA's official website, specifically for BioWare Montreal -- a studio that describes itself in the same listing as "working on Mass Effect, one of the industry's most beloved and acclaimed franchises, as we build our way toward becoming a fully self-sufficient BioWare studio." EA's Montreal-based recruiter, Jeff Goldstein, apparently had a similar listing on his LinkedIn page (no longer available but captured by CinemaBlend), which pegged the multiplayer programmers as working on the "Mass Effect Franchise." The position additionally requires "experience with the Unreal Engine" -- out of BioWare's current and known franchises, Mass Effect is the only one to use Unreal. Alarmingly, the listing fails to point out that, if applicants are to work on a Mass Effect 3 multiplayer component, they'll be working on the hardest game development task of all time. We can't even begin to wonder how multiplayer dialogue trees work. When contacted for comment, an EA rep told Joystiq, "Mass Effect is a rich, dynamic fiction designed as a trilogy. The team at BioWare is working on new downloadable content for Mass Effect 2 and are in the early stages of Mass Effect 3 development." [Thanks, Khai; via NeverKnowTech]
