BioWare Confirms Undisclosed Number of Layoffs as Star Wars: The Old Republic Moves to New Developer
BioWare has confirmed layoffs within the Star Wars: The Old Republic development team as the game prepares to transition to a new developer.
Earlier this month, IGN revealed that EA was nearing an agreement to transfer the ongoing development and operations of the long-running MMORPG from BioWare to third-party studio Broadsword Online Games.
With this deal, SWTOR will now be taken over by Broadsword Online, developers of Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot. Broadsword Online is run by former Mythic Entertainment co-founder Rob Denton, his BioWare Vice President who was involved with SWTOR in his early days.
At the time, IGN reported that The Old Republic had 70-80 people on its core development team, with more than half expected to move to Broadsword.
new blog postBioWare general manager Gary McKay confirmed that undisclosed layoff numbers will apply to people who don’t transition from the studio to Broadsword.
“Big change doesn’t happen without challenges,” says McKay. “Among them is the fact that most of the current team will be invited to accompany the game’s transition to Broadsword, although unfortunately not all roles will transition. These decisions are not taken lightly, and of course we are doing everything we can to support our team members who have been impacted and have given them a new role within EA. have the opportunity to find
“Additionally, we know that team members required to move to a new studio are also adapting to change, and we will work with Broadsword to make the transition as comfortable as possible.
“However, in the long term, we believe this is the best decision for the game and its community. I also know that will be in very good hands.”
One of the employees moving from BioWare to Broadsword is SWTOR Executive Producer Keith Kanneg. In the same blog post, he said, “Decisions affecting employees are the most difficult part of change and evolution, but Broadsword will continue to enhance and modernize our games, as well as expand the number of people who can play them. I believe that it is a suitable studio to do.” that”.
BioWare claims that all current plans for SWTOR are still in place and that new features will be announced.
“For example, we delivered our biggest story update in months and a new story flashpoint with Game Update 7.3: Old Wounds, which brings us back to the planet Voss, which we haven’t visited since the 2016 KOTET expansion. We can,” said Canek. “In the coming months, we will also be rolling out Game Update 7.3.1, which will include the next Galactic season. Also keep an eye out for more details in Game Update 7.4, where players will continue the story following the events of Old Wounds. And there’s a lot more on the horizon.”
BioWare is currently focused on single-player games, with teams primarily located in Austin and Edmonton. McKay provided a quick update on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and his upcoming Mass Effect game. “With Dragon Age, we continue to build, polish, and fine-tune the incredible experiences our fans love. Pre-production continues with a core team of veteran storytellers who are advancing the deep history of .
SWTOR was first launched in December 2011 and IGN Reviews at the time gave it a 9/10More. Originally released as a subscription game, it was converted to free-to-play within a year. steep downhillSince then it has been a steady success.
SWTOR never quite reached the heights of its competitor World of Warcraft, but it did. Nearly $1 billion in lifetime revenue as of 2019.last year, that Creative director Charles Boyd leaves the company 16 years later.
The Old Republic remains a popular era in the Star Wars universe, and Lucasfilm recognizes it as an important era. It could be the setting for future movies and shows. A remake of the original Knights of the Old Republic is currently in development, but it’s unclear what the status will be after development. indefinite delay.
Wesley is IGN’s UK news editor. Find @wyp100 on Twitter. You can reach Wesley at: wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially wyp100@proton.me.
