BioWare Hopes to Develop Smaller, Experimental Projects

As a AAA studio, BioWare produces games conducive to that descriptor. Big budge projects with massive stories to tell and endless ways with which to explore them is kind of BioWare’s thing. Undoubtedly, Anthem will continue this trend, so, too, will the inevitable release of a new Dragon Age.  But the studio aims to explore options beyond the realm of blockbuster games. According to Anthem’s executive producer, Mark Darrah, and BioWare general manager, Casey Hudson, smaller projects could be on the horizon.

Talking to Game Informer, Darrah explains, “it’s incredibly important that we don’t become just one note.”

Hudson expands upon this thinking. Because of the way both EA and the industry are evolving, opportunities are opening that will allow them to develop “more experimental” works. He suggests that perhaps BioWare will produce a short film. Such a project would afford them to chance to explore creative opportunities that don’t require the budget of a Mass Effect or Dragon Age.

Darrah continues, adding that AAA developers could potentially begin “diversifying the scale of their games.” In addition to crafting big experiences, he’d like to see studios focus on smaller titles as well.

“There are things people can do in the indie space that are kind of off limits in the hd space, just because people’s expectations rise with, not just the budgets, but with the studio,” Darrah says. “I think there’s a middle ground. I’ve heard it called AAA-indie, which is that high production value but still smaller scale, smaller budget. There’s very few games in that space right now. I think there’s an opportunity for more AAA stuff to be in there.”

With regards to AAA-indie titles, the producer is most likely referencing a project such as Ninja Theory’s Hellblade. UbiArt games like Valiant Hearts and Child of Light exist in a similar space.

For Hudson, this extends beyond gaming, too. He notes that movie studios often develop short films. This allows them to receive extensive feedback from audiences without the extensive cost of a feature length production. These ideas may then spawn a film studio’s next major IP. In gaming, we’ve seen this most recently with Quantic Dream’s Kara short turning into Detroit: Become Human. Dontnod’s The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit acts as a prelude for Life is Strange 2. BioWare could explore similar options as Hudson says the developer is interested in presenting concepts and gauging audience appeal before proceeding with new ideas.

Anthem launches February 22, 2019.

[Source: Game Informer]

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