Electronic Arts restructuring BioWare Austin – Video Games Update
The second round of employee layoffs has started at BioWare Austin as the giant publisher Electronic Arts (EA) announced today that it is restructuring the studio following the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR).
Gamers were expecting this news because of how badly SWTOR has been doing in the market. The supposedly World of Warcraft killer had a decent launch, becoming the fastest selling massively multiplayer online (MMO) to date, selling over 2 million units since
launch. BioWare had predicted that SWTOR only required 500,000 active subscribers a month to turn over a profit.
Unfortunately, subscriber count is rapidly falling as SWTOR fails to hold interest of the gamers because of various reasons. Many analysts believe that the Star Wars MMO is dying and EA will make it free to play very soon. The game is already free to play
up to level 15 for new players and returning players have been offered a free week trial to check out the latest patch improvements and fixes.
Earlier today reports were received that SWTOR’s executive producer Rich Vogel has been sacked. Later EA BioWare issued an official statement as claimed that the studio is undergoing restructuring which has been going on since May.
“As with the launch of any MMO, the size and skillset of the teams needed to maintain the game is different than the ones that built it. Starting in May, there have been staff reductions in the BioWare Austin studio. Some people have been platooned to other
projects at BioWare Austin and EA SPORTS/Austin. Others have been released,” stated an EA spokesperson regarding the restructuring of BioWare Austin.
This statement completely contradicts what a senior creative director at BioWare, James Ohlen, previously mentioned in an interview with Gamasutra. Ohlen claimed, "Unlike a lot of other game companies that, once they launch a game, downsize their teams radically,
our plan is to keep the team together and continue to focus on building content."
Apparently that plan changed when EA stockholders discovered that BioWare Austin had just flushed $500 million down the drain when player count of SWOTOR started to decrease rapidly just months after launch.
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