Yesterday I showed you how Denis Dyack justified “Too Human” being a trilogy.
Today, witness how BioWare’s founders answered when I asked why “Mass Effect” needed to be three parts.
This interview was conducted in February at the Game Developers Conference where the BioWare was promoting the PC version of “Mass Effect”…
Multiplayer: “Mass Effect” was announced as a trilogy. Creatively, how do you go about determining that you’re making a trilogy? On the completely cynical side, it could be that there was some marketing guy who decided, “We’re going to make one game. It’s going to be a hit. We’re going to have two sequels.” On the other side of the spectrum the idea would be: “This story cannot be told in one game; it can’t be told in 40 hours. It needs to be told in 120.”
Specific to “Mass Effect,” do you recall the moment when it was determined that it would be a trilogy?
Ray Muzyka, BioWare co-founder: Very much with “Mass Effect” it was the development team that drove the decision to make it a trilogy. I think the very first meeting we had with Casey Hudson, who is the project director on that project — Greg and me and Casey went out for lunch and said, “What do we do [next]? “Knights of the Old Republic” was a great success. What’s going to be the next challenge to the team?”
At the lunch we decided that we want something that really feels epic. It’s like you’re the tip of the spear of humanity on a galactic stage. Something that’s big and ambitious. What about a trilogy?
Great science fiction arcs often occur in trilogies. It seems like it’s sort of the way of it. Maybe it’s a convenient number. But it allows you to have different pacing in parts of the story. So we’re excited about the next installments. We haven’t announced them formally, but we’ve talked about how we have grand ambitions and we want to ontine to build.
We also are really excited just as game players ourselves to be able to build on a foundation. As Greg [Zeschuk, BioWare co-founder] said, we’re always building on this foundation of the past work. And all across the board that’s exploration, progression, customization, narrative, story, digital actors, and social aspects for multiplayer games — just building on that. And being able to take that from one product to the next within a franchise is another way to express the things that the fans loved and make them better and better each time out the gate.
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April 4th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Question: Why are we making Mass Effect as a trilogy?
Answer: So we can make more money.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
BioWare has carte blanche when it comes to milking their franchises, at least as far as I’m concerned. Mass Effect was everything it was hyped up to be (but perhaps a little short and a bit shallow on the planet sidequests). I have no doubt that its sequels will share the same fate. George Lucas and Disney have to be stopped, but BioWare better deliver Mass Effect 2 soon. And congrats on your wonderfully original joke, Joe.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Well go figure.. that’s what they are in business to do! duh
April 4th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Maybe because they want to make a long term story and that will require a lot of dev time?
I really enjoyed Mass Effect and felt the first game gave closure while still providing something to look forward to.
April 4th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Actually… I’m a game developer myself, and I’ve played Mass Effect quite a bit, and its obvious to me that that game was a labor of love for the people who worked on it. I think if you got to know any of the developers who worked on Mass Effect, you would find that they were not making it for the money—they wanted to make something amazing (we all want that) and they have succeeded in breaking new ground and making an amazing new game.
The reason they’re making sequels, the reason they planned it as a trilogy, is not “we can make 3x the money that way”. Maybe thats how they sell it to the business suits. But the real reason is, *this is what they love to do*. Why settle for one awesome game, if they can get the opportunity to make three of them? And since the first one was so well received, it looks like they will get that opportunity, and I hope they knock the sequel out of the park too.
…I might have ended up working on Mass Effect myself, had I not turned down an interview with them in the relevant timeframe. Hindsight is 20/20. =) And I worked on other interesting games over the last 2 years, so I don’t regret my decision. But I’m sure looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish with Mass Effect 2.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Mass Effect delivered on every promise. I look forward to Mass Effect 2.
Im an adult gamer, I’m fully prepared to enjoy a story told over more than 1 title.
Thank you BioWare for having the sense to plan big. Now, we’ll see how Too Human pans out.
Based on the previews of Too Human, I’m thinking we’ll be delighted again.
April 5th, 2008 at 4:27 am
I think Mass Effect is such a gem with a story line even beating that of Star Wars movie! I know that sounds big but I believe that is true… I can’t really wait for ME2 and they’d better release is soon, not 2 years later or something.
I can’t wait for Too Human Trilogy too.. I have no problems with trilogies in games actually. Bioware and Silicon Knights without a doubt are the two developers who can really pull this off (making trilogies) with their credits including Baldur’s Gate and Kotor (Bioware) and Eternal Darkness (SK).
April 6th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
On the contrary, I encourage them to take their time in development for the second installment. I have no clue the original turnaround from start to stores for Mass Effect, but to rush the second and third games (not that they would) does no service to the original.
We all have other games to play in the mean time, and although I’d love to see ME2 on the shelves tomorrow at 2pm, there is far preference for them doing the proper work and taking the time necessary to follow up on such a great gaming experience.
Now, back to NHL 08… Hockey games are fun, who knew?
April 7th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
The thing I heard elsewhere was that Bioware would like to finish the series on the Xbox 360. We all know that won’t happen. In fact, we’d be lucky to see Mass Effect 2 this generation unless Bioware grows enough to develop two games at once. They must have already moved on to Dragon Age so I personally wouldn’t expect to see another Mass Effect until 2010 or 2011.
April 8th, 2008 at 12:24 am
I have to say from a story standpoint it makes a lot of sense what Bioware is doing. They are essentially attempting to take videogames to the level of film by creating their own IP. With KOTOR they were limited by LucasArts but with Mass Effect they have a blank slate. All the best IP’s are labours of love that traverse time. Where would Star Wars, Warcraft, or any other multi-issue epic IP be without multiple installments?
April 8th, 2008 at 9:42 am
As a long time fan of Bioware’s, I was very happy with Mass Effect. But I don’t fool myself into thinking there’s no room for improvement, because I know there is plenty. That’s why I’m excited for Mass Effect 2, because although advancing the storyline is something I’ll really look forward to, the more advanced experience should make it exponentially greater.
And to Matt, you know, 2010 might not be too far off a date to expect ME2 — 2 years from now — but I think it should surely be out before 2011. Bioware actually *has* grown enough to work on more than one game. Two or three at least, actually. They have two studios now. So though they’re working on Dragon Age, it’s already been stated that work on Mass Effect 2 has ALREADY been jump started!
And that’s great news.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I think Mass Effect 2 will improve on the first, on all areas but graphics why improve great graphics, i think we’ll see mass effect 2 Nov09 and ME3 Nov11 since the story looks planned, the codes write and being well-into development.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
saying bioware does anything purely for money is simply stating your ignorance of the brilliance, ambition and creativity of this company.
there’s a stark difference between releasing a game, seeing how much money it makes you, then designing 4-12 more games of the same title and gameplay with a few upgrades, and coming out from the start to declare it will be a three game series because of the tremendous work and ambition going into the project.
they could make more money off baldur’s gate 3.
they sold the rights to other companies for kotor2 and nwn2 instead of milking those franchises.
unlike almost all game designers now-a-days, bioware deals with originality, and mass effect was exactly what they said it’d be, as will be the other 2/3’s of the story.
chumps.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Mass Effect “WAS” the greatest RPG/ 3rd person shooter I have ever played! It’s actually the greatest and most Epic game I have ever played. Bioware did an amazing job on this fantastic game and I look very much forward to the second and third, thx Bioware.
April 9th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Mass Effect Had a “Good idea” with the “choice wheel” but (mostly) overlooked the possibilities that it presents…
Here are some books that will… Change the way some RPG’s are programmed in the future!!!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endless_Quest
Bioware, Really… Think about it!!!
April 10th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Mass Effect is the single greatest game I have ever played. Ever. Forget hyperboles and superlatives; this is the real deal.
We need more publishers like BioWare, for whom games are not just dollar signs and cash cows, but lovingly crafted works of art, something that they build with passion and purpose.
Every BioWare game I have ever played (granted, I have only played three) has maintained a consistent level of excellence that no other publisher I know has ever achieved. More than this, each game they make feels like something special…
In short: I’m not a big gamer, but I can’t wait for Mass Effect 2. I hope they take their time with it and make something as wonderful as the first.
…Every industry could use more BioWares.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Mass Effect is the greatest RPG to date, My first time though, playing everything, and seeing the end, I knew there was something special, Something Epic about this game.
Thank you Bioware, you are truly RPG masters and i shall wait aslong as it takes no matter how it pains me, to see the middle and end of such a magnificent and unique story, Thank you!!!
April 10th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Okay…. money, first one was a hit, and i agree with moo’s idea somewhat(they love to do it). we should see it pretty soon; story is probably planned out, game engine (graphics and crap) made as i see no reason at all to make another
April 11th, 2008 at 12:33 am
If anybody can pull off a decision tree trilogy it’s Bioware. As for developer size, they’re huge especially post merger. While Bioware was independent it was working on an MMO, Sonic DS, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect, and has entered into a licensing deal to develop something in collaboration with Lucas Arts. They’re not Id or Blizzard, who work on a single title for 4 years before starting their next project.
I’m looking forward to seeing a Next-Gen game finally touch the scope of the Baldur’s Gate 2 trilogy. It’s been a long time coming and as for whether the game will be good or not, all you gotta tell me is Bioware is behind it and I’m sold (Shattered Steel, still the best Mech sim game ever).
Since I see Too Human notes on here I’ll say this: I like their previous work (Blood Omen), but I’m scared for the gameplay. Here’s hoping it shares Mass Effects success and doesn’t share the same fate as the Advent Rising trilogy.
April 15th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Saying Bioware declared for a trilogy before they published even the first installment was meant to make money shows little understanding of how this process works. When a game studio\producer produces a single game, he plans on a one-time expense and can cut his losses if the game flops. Let’s face the numbers - around 80% of the games flop sales-wise.
Bioware did something that’s both challenging and very risky.
1. They went out on a limb with a game not based on any franchise, meaning no previous following and having to pay all promotion costs (but potential returns are larger).
2. They decided from the begining to go with a trilogy, meaning they set up 3 teams from the start (game 1 in production, 1 in pre-production, 3 on paper only) before they see a cent in revenue. That also ties up huge man-resources.
3. Thay have to plan ahead for various platforms as they ship the Xbox version first but have to adapt to a PC version as well in a very short time-frame.
Currently, Bioware and Bethesda are the only two developers who could and would take such risks - and manage to pull it off.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Go BioWare! I can’t wait to see what happens in the next two games, the first was simply breathtaking, it had some of the best single moments in gaming - or movies - for me (the Normandy speech, meeting Sovereign for the first time, and climbing the Citadel tower in low-gravity comes to mind).
I’m hoping the next two will have even more of those rememberable moments.