How EA and Bioware Ruined Mass Effect Andromeda

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[@YongYea]

If you enjoy my content, consider supporting me on patreon.com/yongyea to help this channel stay independent from third party sponsorship/corporate interference. Hope you enjoyed the video!

[@jeremiahstark4080]

YongYea So EA Just Screwed Them

[@anonymousdesigner7963]

The moment your own pinned comment is up for two hours and there're only 3 replies...

[@jeremiahstark4080]

anime is a sin IKR

[@thisithis]

EA not responsible? What??? EA told Bioware and nothing else. That makes EA responsible. Or we going to say EA not responsible for the fall of Command and Conquer, Burnout, Dead Space, Medal of Honor, SimCity, and let's not forget Ultima. All dead. And yet people still buy their games.

[@khalifbrinn4184]

Agreed, it's like some people didn't pay attention to the vid. bioware just shit the bed on this one.

[@Ghostie____]

To quote Shigeru Miyamoto; A delayed game is eventually good, a rushed game is bad forever.

[@anonymousdesigner7963]

*ahem* Duke Nuken *ahem*

[@Ghostie____]

True, but Duke Nukem was a very rare case.

[@7DeadlyJinxs]

xghostxtigerx vise versa

[@Herman_Hedning]

So Duke Nukem Forever is a good game then?

[@canzy28192]

True enough, but it's not the developer's choice... Remember that Mass Effect is published by EA, which i doubt would be willing to accept a 10 years developement cycle

[@Handelo]

As a 3d artist, I can say without a doubt that switching 3d programs mid-development is the most destructive thing you can do to an animation team. The only things that transfer are the models and textures. Everything related to animation, from the bone system used to drive the character, the data that actually binds the character to the bone system, the rig used to move those bones and drive any deformations, to any unfinished animations, everything has to be reworked from scratch. Completed animations can be ported over but they will be incompatible with the new character rig, and will be next to impossible to change. That's without even mentioning hooking up the control rig of the characters to body and facial motion capture systems. Who the fuck was the idiot in charge that decided to make that switch? And who's the bigger idiot that put them there?

[@newrecru1t]

Handelo No clue. But it was deemed necessary by the higher ups, question is, why didn't they do it sooner?...

[@Verpal]

@gildas wantier Diversity hire? Where do you got the info from? Curious on who might 'he'' be.

[@mac533]

@Alex F So BioWare put the entire fate of their game in the hands of one person, with no oversight? They deserved to fail, then.

[@oliver_twistor]

I'm a programmer by trade and I can understand the problem switching animation systems could pose. If I would translate that into my domain, it would be to switch programming languages mid-project, from say Java to PHP. It's certainly doable, and many programming languages share many common idioms and workflows, but it would be time consuming and an extreme source of bugs. Especially if the original deadline wasn't postponed.

[@fattiger6957]

It really just seems that Bioware Montreal had no idea how to make a big AAA game. They bit off more than they could chew, were indecisive on important issues and they lacked the centralized direction of a firm and experienced leader. This game is like a case study of how not to make a AAA game.

[@mirsolis4992]

Its a super fascinating look at the perils of poor management. Its kind of a shame the journalist could only go so in depth what with anonymity and NDA's, I think there are potentially lots of lessons to be learned that could be applied to any large project. I'd be interested in an in depth book.

[@PaulXPZ]

The author of the article has a book coming out about game development. He talks about many games and interviews a lot of devs officially. I may not be pre-ordering games any time soon but I think it's safe to pre-order the book.

[@kalashnikovdevil]

They didn't seem to know how to make a game period, never mind a AAA game.

[@bladelazoe]

Not only that but they were severely under tooled for what they were trying to do. They had to work with an engine that was primarily made for 1st person shooter and tried to make it work for another genre. Honestly, they would of been better off with building a brand new engine for it.

[@twinkstance]

so basically they stole my money for a unfinished product. ill remember ea...

[@theolddarksoul1129]

twinkstance you can't really blame EA for bioware's internal problems 2 studios fighting each other, lead designers leaving left & right, and an undermanned staff throughout the entire project yeah that's not EA's fault

[@theolddarksoul1129]

*****​​​ yeah I hear you on that but from EA's point of view they seen an rpg was able to be created with frostbite before so it was doable Montreal didn't have the animators to do it so if they changed engines I doubt they would have any success since they were so far behind in development

[@TheDarkblue57]

*Twinkstance Will Remember That.*

[@anonymousdesigner7963]

vin 950 not to mention it was EA's choice to ship the veteran team to work on new IP's and leave separated studios to develop the hot mess...

[@theolddarksoul1129]

*****​ I know I'm just saying bioware's internal struggles aren't EA's fault Montreal had 5 years to build the game but half those years they had absolutely no idea what they were doing they should've asked for a longer delay The Witcher 3 had multiple delays because CDPR knew the game wasn't ready Monolith just put a delay on Shadow Of War because they knew the game isn't ready yet now I'm not saying EA is completely innocent in this but for once you can't put the blame fully on them bioware knew the game was nowhere near ready they should've requested more time

[@Iqbalx1]

what really pissed me off is that bioware did all of this on purpose there A team could focus on anthem it reminds me a lot when gearbox shafted colonial marines so they can focus on borderlands 2

[@Outlaw8908]

Iqbalx1 Then fucked up the rest of the way, this game had no chance given its development hell.

[@SentinelEnforcer]

Look on the bright side we're getting what appears to be a destiny clone with mmo elements. :|

[@Outlaw8908]

Sentinel Enforcer Not really a bright side.

[@SentinelEnforcer]

Outlaw8908 It's Sarcasm. I said that because apparently bioware thought it was a good idea to ruin an established ip and damage their reputation for what appears to be a destiny knockoff.

[@Outlaw8908]

Sentinel Enforcer I know man. I was playing the straight man with a touch of sarcasm.

[@melaniev8379]

This is so depressing, and with the reactions from Anthem, the future for Bioware as a whole looks very grim.

[@accelerator8558]

like everyone say "they are diggin their own grave"

[@GhostCell47]

Accelerator Yep.

[@zonesquestiloveunderworld]

Yeah man. Anthem looks SO generic... it basically just looks like a watered-down Mass Effect in space. They seriously need to re-hire their old writers...

[@macdhomhnaill7721]

Melanie V Good. Let em’ rot. Shake hands with the devil? You get burned.

[@phoenixzappa7366]

I didn't know that hot girls played video games

[@RedPilgrim.]

The graphic downgrade was one of those disaster...

[@omegaman7377]

The graphic downgrade was done to adapt the game to the console market. The Frostbite engine is very demanding.

[@halofreak1990]

+Omega Man lolno. See how BF1 looks on consoles? Way better than ME: Andromeda. The consoles could to it. The problem is that all the stuff they had to add to the engine to make it do what they wanted, slowed it down to a crawl. Had they retained the engine used by the previous Mass Effect games, ME: Andromeda would've turned out way better, even if they'd only had the 1.5 years like they did now. It's not the consoles, but the politics, that rekt the game.

[@jokebapack2]

Procedurly generated. That is an idea that started the disaster.

[@reaktorleak89]

Management probably saw "procedurally generated" and assumed that meant fewer staff resources needed.

[@phoenixzappa7366]

Procedurally generated bollox. Come and play!

[@TrezlySnipes]

Yong building a great channel by destroying Bioware lol

[@chittybangbang7637]

TrezlySnipes lul

[@Nikoemmp]

"Destroying" LUL

[@theolddarksoul1129]

TrezlySnipes they really just destroyed themselves to be honest if Anthem & Dragon Age 4 come out good then they'll redeem themselves

[@lazysylph3312]

Eloymm yeah, bioware is destroying themselves.

[@DarkZholt]

They shot themselves on the feet, he just reports on it.

[@hanssmirnov9946]

"The fans want a sequel." "OK! Let's set it in a new galaxy long after everyone they love is dead, with no discussion about what happened to Shepherd or his crew, or his civilization." "That... isn't a sequel at all!" "It's what the fans want, shut up! You're just jealous that they want what I want!"

[@accelerator8558]

Devs in a nutshell

[@TigonIII]

Hans Smirnov I don't get why they didn't get a creative director or lead writer who had a mostly clear vision of where the story should go. Because when nobody involved in the project is passionate about it but just making it because it's what the fans want, then it's almost doomed to fail.

[@addisonwelsh]

@@TigonIII Welcome to the modern entertainment industry. "People like this franchise, so we're going to give them more of this franchise, even though the story should have ended a long time ago."

[@Tommo020788]

exactly. EVERYONE wanted to know what happens to Sheppard after mass effect 3, there were so many possible ways to continue that story, and everyone wanted to see that story continue.... then these idiots decided they know better and screwed it completely. The game didn't even feel at all like the original trilogy. Its essentially an entirely different game that nobody wanted.

[@RandomUserHandleKeepItMoving]

How odd. Anthem is looking to release spring 2018, a bit sooner than expected......... It makes sense if Edmonton did indeed screw Montreal over. Anthem would be put in fast track, and absorbed most Bioware resources (including some from montreal studio), while Andromeda would be left as low priority, as well as understaffed at times. Ironically for Edmonton studio, Andromeda crashing and burning has greatly damaged all of Bioware's reputation, including their own. Anthem will carry the baggage of being known as the game that Mass Effect was put on the back burner for...

[@MioRaem]

I didn't think about it like that, but you are right. And the fact they went with a 30 second CGI trailer as the very first impression of the game doesn't help either.

[@mimim102]

Christopher O could you Tell me what Anthem is? A new DA maybe? sorry if my question is dumb but I cant watch the video right now

[@Darkslayer289]

fer mica I think it's a brand new IP.

[@Outlaw8908]

fer mica Its Bioware/EA's attempt to cash in on MMO hybrid market. Sci-fi meets attack on Titan and a few other stories, with exosuits. Essentially a junk game that will just be a shell with micro transactions.

[@GreyFang9]

+fer mica No one really knows yet but the scant few (and I do mean *FEW*) flashes we got were some Generic AF, seemingly borrow footage from half a dozen other games with a cheesy ominous voice-over... Generic Earth-like environment, "mech" armor that is somewhere between Section 8 (looks) and Titanfall (size), and hints of Destiny clone from reports.

[@polux5136]

Hey Yong, put that guys article in the description please.

[@Stellos812]

I feel like EA's decision to have Bioware use the Frostbite engine was the major fuse that fucked the game, leading to many of these divisions and technical problems within Bioware's development of the game.

[@TheGililgi]

Koby Wilson yeah I think Frostbite should strictly be for Battlefield Battlefront and Sports games clearly it's not strong enough to hold together in an open world rpg

[@theolddarksoul1129]

NovaEnforcer dragon age inquisition was made with frostbite so making an rpg with the engine is possible the Andromeda team had no idea what they were doing majority of the time & wasted 2 years from the 5 they had

[@TheGililgi]

The Keeper yeah what they^ said

[@youngknight5589]

Darryl I think they obviously need to build or support its functionality if EA really wants their studios to use it like unreal or unity engines that can work with a lot of genres

[@loopysausage]

For people who blamed the community for the outcome, well, guess what. :| You're wrong!

[@Outlaw8908]

loopysausage I guess that takes care of that.

[@MajkaSrajka]

If Bioware noticed that pushing release back would be considerably worse for their community, and based their decision based on that, then it could be community's fault anyway.

[@adridell]

EA and Bioware expected 6-9 million sells so yes it is a massive failure in expectations from all angles, consummer's and seller's....3 millions for a Series so important as this one is not really much, dont let numbers fool you

[@timmyco]

loopysausage It was a really good game, it's the communities fault that they choose to hate on the game because you know, they are stupid.

[@MrNicoJac]

I want MY money back, but those poor developers should get those YEARS of their LIVES back..... -_-

[@accelerator8558]

what about release a full produc?

[@NathanGatten]

Bioware's lack of focus + EA forcing them to use Frostbite + Office politics = Disaster

[@vinnysouza2016]

bobby92ii It's almost...UNREAL...okay, i'll kill myself

[@defoley5]

They have no one to blame, but themselves. They need to own that.

[@Hellbane224]

BioWare will never own anything. To do so would require them to swallow their pride, and admit they fucked up. That's too much to ask of them. They banned my account from posting on the forums for insisting they apologize for that dreadful ending in ME3.

[@Outlaw8908]

Hellbane224 I got chewed out for saying DA2 was a heaping pile of garbage.

[@7DeadlyJinxs]

+Outlaw8908 Well what did you expect would happen?

[@SteveJonesGamingGWO]

defoley5 incompetence is a horrible sin

[@mirsolis4992]

Its insane how much better EA looks after all this, they were extraordinarily patient. Sad to say but were I in their shoes I'd be super wary about risking my job and millions on a studio that proved itself to be badly run. I'm sure they view the 5 year development cycle to be fraught with waste, weird to say but maybe MORE meddling via EA may have put the project on track much faster and given them the breathing room to really craft something special, "Guys this is super ambitious but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere, maybe a more traditional experience would work better".

[@theolddarksoul1129]

and to think they delayed the game to this year it was supposed to be released last year if the game was crappy & full of bugs after the delay just imagine how bad it would've been if they went with the original release

[@pypy1986820]

Like a Steam Greenlight game

[@proxy5331]

Shouldn't you typically build everything around the story, writing and character dialogue, before going all in with developing other parts? So glad I didn't buy this game.

[@mirsolis4992]

Thats what I thought too, the management on this game was very poor. They spent too long chasing procedural generation . . . a tighter, shorter more linear game would have likely been just as cheap if not cheaper and perhaps could have been put out faster.

[@mimim102]

You know Even the Sims 4 it's a pretty good rpg game at this time, no joking 😶

[@amyhoard1222]

I figured you would start with a story then build up a game around the story, not build a game without a plot and realize last minute you need a story to go with the game : / Hopefully whatever they decide to label the new IP, it will be better written and polished before it's released.

[@iplaygunz1]

Typically for a game, the designers come up with a set of mechanics first and it's up to the writers to contextualize those mechanics into a cohesive story.

[@harshamohite1289]

No. A game has to build everything around its gameplay. The story has to be built around gameplay. If you start with a story, your gameplay is going to suffer tremendously. The two either have to be built in tandem or the gameplay has to be prioritized first. You might start with a basic idea of what you want the story to be, but you have to design the gameplay before writing the dialogue and characters that accompany. When gameplay suffers a mismatch with the story, it's called ludonarrative dissonance and is an absolute immersion-killer. Or, fleshing out a story first could leave gameplay designers locked in and unable to change a mechanic that isn't working without tanking the story in the process. Source: me being a game design student.

[@TheNocturnal1]

Best way to summarize the whole development of this game: Mass Effect 2's Suicide Mission They barely made it through. They didn't keep everyone in check along with preparations, therefore had many casualties...

[@RedPrince56]

"hey guys you heard of YongYea" "oh yah hes that dude who single handly rekted bioware right lul"

[@greyline23]

Fascinating watching this video two years later. Time changes so much, but changes so little.

[@bjornhammerfellgunnirsson7264]

Dude most of the spider man games have been garbage why would they make that guy director

[@AndrewH9999]

Nick Broberg I was thinking that exact same thing lol

[@kc_cobra]

Because he was cheaper to hire most likely...

[@GraveMemories]

1 and 2 were great in my opinion

[@vincentkung3836]

Actually. The Amazijg Spider Man was a pretty gold game, and a decent Story

[@bascal133]

Did he do 2? 2 was good 😁

[@udobybreak6393]

9:28 Damn 9:40 DAMN No wonder this game got fucked. Wow.

[@Yayofangamer16]

I love HOW diverse the development team is! I mean, they DO preach pro-diversity in the gaim. Bioware Montreal: Oh no I made a bad gaim

[@Jburneyjr]

Udoby Break I thought your name was Urgnot Break

[@GhostCell47]

It explains a lot, does it?

[@burgerwolfbrown735]

You know what would've fixed some of the facial animations? If you played as the Quarians since you can't see their faces

[@bleack8701]

In the end if EA hadn't rushed them it would have been a great game, but because they were forced to use Frostbite, were not given time to actually make the game and with an understaffed animation team it's even a miracle the game is playable

[@Astro-Sloth]

What do you mean rushed? EA gave them a whole extra year. They had a total of 5 years to do that shit. DAI worked fine on frostbite. This is all on Bioware.

[@Blackemperess]

EA are shitshows in and of themselves but for once they weren't entirely to blame for this fiasco. EA didn't rush them and they were willing to give them more time. When EA is doing something like that, you know the developer fucked up. They also had five years beforehand and screwed that up too, so stop trying to pass the buck when the culprits are clearly Bioware.

[@staticxreset]

The fact that EA gave them more time and they still were in the Proof of Concept stage 3 years deep in development shows how shitty their management of the project was.

[@antonakesson]

To quote a movie that fits my feelings for EA and Bioware right now. "You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!" - Planet of the apes (1968).

[@loopysausage]

Of fucking course. xD Office Politics...

[@exu7325]

SJWs and their politics..

[@smoldoggy1005]

If they only had white guys and Asians working there MEA would be way better than it is now

[@psobczak86]

You fuckin' idiots are always just going to hear what you want to hear. Read the fuckin article or just watch the video again. Both explain exactly what those office politics were. Management changes, staff shifting and accusations of sabotage. "Politics" has more meaning than just political views and opinions. Especially when you're talking about office politics.

[@TheZombie2415]

someone should make a movie behind bioware Andromeda tragedy. 10/10 must watch

[@neridia]

M Dwi Kurnia L Bowi You're totally right. xD

[@ministryofwrongthink6962]

Honestly this is the best rundown of the Andromeda -abortion- flunk I've seen on YT. Props man 👍

[@laughingoctopus8556]

basically everybody failed, ea, Bioware, the teams, the engine, everything, similar to me3, only this time it's okay to call it out unlike before where fans where labeled entitled and other insults.

[@Outlaw8908]

Laughing Octopus I would say it's more like we told you so to the people that did not listen to us when Dragon Age 2 was shit, ME3's craptastic ending, and TOR failed to live up to expectations.

[@accelerator8558]

thats happen when you are so blind to the tru

[@sindx]

So they wanted to make Star Citizen but failed miserably, lol. It did sound ambitious, and it would have been AWESOME if they could have pulled it off.

[@ryanedward7697]

Anyone else re-watching this after the Kotaku article regarding Anthem's troubled development?? History has a funny way of repeating itself doesn't it, Bioware.

[@IR-Fan]

Who doesn't want The First Contact War settings for Mass Effect series? I mean it could be a good prequel on how humans first encounters and takes on other races such as turians, salarians, or even asari back then. Damn! what a wasted potential.

[@mimim102]

Irvan Bahcdim i love that idea I would love to see how many problems humans and aliens had on their first contact that sounds amazing!. how stupid is Bioware to make the most hideous games from this era? what a waste of 5 years for nothing good😟

[@IR-Fan]

fer mica yup what a shame... especially coming for Bioware.

[@ryancampbell2330]

my issue with a first contact war game would be that it wouldn't add anything to the lore we don't already know. through the other games we already know how that story plays out. the andromeda idea would be a good idea if they polished the story and filled in the plot holes on why we would go in the first place

[@theolddarksoul1129]

Ryan Campbell hearing about it from Anderson is 1 thing but actually being in it is completely different if they didn't axe Shepard's dad from the orgianl trilogy it would've been awesome to play as him though it

[@IR-Fan]

xXEVILTERRORXx1414 Yes... but Bioware should've taken feedback that involve game mechanics, settings or artstyle. Not feedbacks for what their game project or concept should be. Bioware still have their rights to make games that they want.

[@Amenoxiel]

I've read parts of the article on Kotaku before this video came out, thanks for putting all the more important bits together. Also great choice for pictures in the video. I had not seen many of those concept arts before this. :)

[@wepepe7603]

This is just so sad. Bioware already lost so many loyal fans because of their disaster with Andromeda, and now Anthem..

[@frealms]

TL;DW: Don't pre-order video-games. Serves zero purpose but to encourage this kind of practice. It is an investment with no return interest that just drives publishers profits in lieu of good products.

[@warp00009]

Best analysis of the article yet! I enjoyed the game, despite the rough edges - and still hope someday that we'll get some nice DLC's and sequels, even though that doesn't seem likely... What could have and should have been! Not too impressed with the initial Anthem trailer shown yesterday at E3, too much been-there-done-that with what looks rather like a Crysis2 knock off... Was hoping for something bigger in concept, more environmentally diverse, and generally exciting...

[@pypy1986820]

Rough edges? This felt like a $29.99 experience from a indie studio. Like that Technomancer game

[@nefariousnilbog]

Brilliant video. I especially like your use of sources, letting us hear directly from the people involved. I'm an ardent ME fan and hope one day they bring back the franchise. So good to know just what happened. It's a miracle it came together at all. It's also refreshing to see a video not based on guess work and conjecture as so many are. New to the channel but now I'm subbed and keen to see other vids.

[@kenisz3n377]

Hey man just want to express that I find your videos very engaging! Keep up the good work.

[@kennycai8695]

From the perspective of an aspiring game developer, I am amazed the game was even playable, albeit in such a poor state. Personally, I cannot speak on behalf of anyone in BioWare, since I have no contacts there, but if I was put in their shoes, I would immediately resign and not make a game for at least a year if I had to put up with what was reported. "Inhuman" is an understatement, to put it lightly, although knowing EA's track record for employee welfare, I cannot say I was surprised.

[@inkblotCrisis]

Game development is like taking a shit. Don't force it out.

[@Temp3rMental]

Subscribed! Been catching up on what happened with this Mass Effect and how it went so wrong and found your channel. I appreciate all the news you put out and your ability to be a reporter without bias. I've been a Mass Effect fan since the beginning but was out of the game loop (family creation xD) but was really hoping I could somehow get this game but I don't see that happening now... Anyhow, hopefully Bioware can turn this around after seeing what infighting and politics can do to your game and even a mighty company can fall to its knees. I still would really like to see them work on a sequel, even if it 5-6 years down the road, especially if they can actually work for more than 2 years on it... Cheers!

[@Foileedify]

This is all well and good, YongYea, but according to a Gamespot article, Bioware was asked if they needed more time, by EA, and they refused because they were happy with the result. Source www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-says-it-would-delay-mass-effect-andromeda-again/1100-6445017/

[@newrecru1t]

Foileedify You do realize that EA meant Bioware could've extended the release date. The game was clearly not in a stable state, Bioware Montreal gave up and thumbs up'd the game.

[@Gazellegazellegazelle]

I feel so bad for bad for all of the developers this ordeal sounds like the seven circles of hell 💔

[@Aelendris]

Jesus, Mac Walters coming in just makes me think of how a ME3 dev must've thought "Oh... here we go again..."

[@kummakummakummakummakummac8606]

YongYea - You're videos are extremely well done. I really enjoy them.

[@AnimatingDreams]

at 2:05 we all know that the Dylan game did not become the Bob Dylan of games in the end

[@MrDemonninja86]

unfortunately i spent money on this shit storm. never again EA

[@newrecru1t]

MrDemonninja86 Most of the troubled devlopment was due to Bioware, not EA. In fact, EA were willing to extend the release date further into August if Bioware needed more time, surprisingly Bioware said no.

[@yudhiadhyatmikosiswono9082]

Manveer Heir ....!!!!

[@MioRaem]

Someone should find that guys new indie studio and burn it to the ground he deserves that

[@gadman85]

Or for those of us not in a burning things to the ground mood, find out the name of the studio and avoid everything they make.

[@Outlaw8908]

yudhi adhyatmiko siswono Got a name for that studio he is working for now? Just to add to a list of shit not to buy.

[@edospeaks5123]

yudhi adhyatmiko siswono I would gladly muay thai kick this guy

[@matt_r.2510]

Excellent and entertaining reporting. Thank you for your research and content!

[@domomonstero3077]

this was great Yong, i would love to see you go this deep on what happened with that mess that is Sea of Thieves..

[@farmsalot1233]

I'm gonna give bioware Edmonton a chance with anthem. But won't pre order and will wait for reviews.

[@jasoncarswell7458]

checking in

[@VelociraptorsOfSkyrim]

After watching this video, I appreciate Mass Effect Andromeda as is much more now. It could have been a whole lot worse.....

[@accelerator8558]

read the comment section

[@TMStudios89]

It's a good thing Bioware learned from these lessons and Anthem turned out to be a stellar game.

[@Fendera1]

The Quality of your content is amazing Yong! Your channel keeps getting better and better.

[@invictusedge540]

Okay, I will totally give them going through drastic changes and development hell. Causing problems for the game, admittedly, as stated, it makes a lot more sense now. But too few resources? You had a budget of 40 million. Come on, Bioware...

[@TheOneEV2]

After the ass that was ME:3....I'm honestly not surprised ME:A turned into a huge let down. And don't get me wrong, I love the trilogy, and love Shepard but the ending of 3 was the beggining of the end for me. I wanted a sequel to the trilogy, needed to know what happened to the choices I made and the crew I had. And the small bread crumbs that Andromeda gave us with memories was just a poor choice. After 3 and Andromeda I'm done with Bioware. I can only hope the sequel for DA:I maybe works a bit, but scales down on the excessive shit the game has you do. I hope Mass Effect isn't dead. The only thing they can maybe do, is give people the answers they wanted with whatever could have been or would be Mass Effect 4.

[@emmijadeshow]

Fans: We want a sequel. Developers: Sure, that works. Here, we'll ste it SO FAR in the future that it doesn't feel like a Mass Effect game.

[@uniteddreams7065]

"When a game gets delayed with the right tools, It gets better with a nice first impression. But when a game gets rushed with the wrong tools... Now that's just a wrong first impression that's hard to erase."

[@alexrain1188]

Sounds like a lot of excuses. It was a bad concept and a bunch of shortcuts to replace quality.

[@theirlovecantcutourknife3253]

Agreed.

[@thisithis]

This story reminds me of the mess known, Duke Nukem Forever, Alien Colonial Marines, and Ride to Hell, all came out unfinished.

[@SouvSan]

"Show Jason some love" Oooooh no. No no no no no no.

[@stephenwolfe463]

Do you think they should port over or remaster the trilogy for current consoles and if so do you think it will ever happen?

[@yanos626]

props man! what a great cohesive analysis of ME's shitstorm development

[@NishaPerson]

The comments about Metal Gear Rising and Final Fantasy 15 are specially true, both games had very troubled dev cycles, but they knew what they doing, they knew when they had to delay certain things, and both games were very very damn good. Especially Final Fantasy 15, I fuckin love that game honestly. Andromeda though, no one had any idea what they were doing, it just became one big giant clusterfuck. Hopefully, this never happens again. But thats just wishful thinking on my part I believe.

[@grayfox4288]

Weiss Schnee du hast sowas von recht dude!!!👍

[@cybernet343]

Its weirdly deja vu-esque to watch this video after the Kotaku article about Anthem. All of this sounds too eerily familiar...

[@latinalover26]

so true

[@AlphaspitzZ]

I picked this game out for Christmas (just other day) and everyone said it sucked after I already got it...I haven't played it yet but I'm not happy about it... Any suggestions for a similar game? I only played the First one so maybe I should just get the Second one

[@cyphaborg6598]

Replaying the trilogy is more enjoyable than playing Andromeda. (Yes even ME3's ending)

[@IchbinX]

It feels good to be right.

[@hjvdb6829]

that open exploration would have been so good!

[@lordofchaosinc.261]

I feel sorry for the great premise that was Andromeda, alone in a hostile foreign galaxy, surviving on finite ressources, carving a place to live sounds so good on paper. All the crunch essentially for nothing, devs screwed, players screwed.

[@Chujutsu]

Now I feel sorry for Bioware Montreal. After all, the problem was that they had lacked manpower, and they're getting even more downsized. How much they've done has shown they've worked hard, but it was unfortunate that the situation has come to this

[@catabolize]

Should of delayed it another year 😧

[@Coorniable]

Catabolize more like another five years

[@steelrunner2000]

Great review! Thks for the clarification.

[@supernova9930]

Yongyea - This is an incredibly insightful summary of all that went on behind the scenes in making this game. I actually feel sorry for the folks who were hopelessly trying to push thru and get this game out. Great video.

[@whitetheeboy6635]

this is sad and i hope bioware bounces back with anthem and da4

[@adridell]

And after all this sh**storm they are telling us now, they still expected an 8/8.5 on metacritic with a fully buggy game, done in 18 months and all they can say is: "we know the game is not perfect but we are fine with an 8.5"... Fu** the guy who said that. This is what gaming is these days, take out unfinished games, fully buggy, with microtransactions, shitt* story done in 18 months and expect between 6-9 millions sells at least and promising a better sequel.... This is the best way to take your money, and if it does not work just tell people the truth and expect us to understand and be sorry for you so your fanbase will defend you from critics....They should have stopped the project when Edmonton studios said that their project was a total mess and Casey Hudson left

[@capritsuno2885]

Very well put together, great info!

[@rogadune9482]

great history overview of this game - interesting to watch especially if you have some experience with software development processes and company politics

[@cash_banooca17]

Random thing but, Would anyone agree that Mafia 3 is one of the only games that got Lip Syncing damn near perfect?

[@DeviousCuttlefish]

One thing that really chaps my ass about this game is that there's no mass relays so how the hell are they moving around the galaxy so damn easily? Start fresh then fine, but if you're just going to toss everything about the franchise's rules out the window then why even call it a Mass Effect game? Also EA, thanks for helping to kill my most favorite game series.

[@tomasgonzales653]

DeviousCuttlefish They aren't moving around the galaxy, they are moving around the Heleus Cluster, a tiny portion of the Andromeda Galaxy on the edge.

[@Huusmaan]

If you think about it. Its pretty impressive what they achieved in 18 months. Kudos to the ground developers who worked so hard on this game. Imagine if they used the full 5 years.

[@humrH2360]

I'm surprised Jason Schreier even managed to put _one day_ of research into this.

[@RogueDragon05]

So the fuckers who did'nt know how to make a game made it impossible to make a coherent game and then punished the people they crippled and blamed them after it failed.

[@TheDarkblue57]

Damage control for the new Bioware game.

[@patty8849]

It's so haunting to here him talk about "Project Dylan" now that we've seen how it came out

[@RoxasFaith]

19:44 "My name is Barry Allen and I'm the fastest man alive."

[@leodouskyron5671]

Yong your conclusions were correct as to what should have happened. In this case though there was no producer or respected person that could tell EA what was needed and make them pony up the cash time and talent to help the rookie studio. The guys at the main saw the issue and instead of putting their baby aside they said (I think) you are making a mess of ME so we may as well borrow this and that person. The senior studio people should have (and maybe did) raise the flag that they need help and resources. Instead the manager got a review of a good version of the game and thought it would be fine when the game was actually in free fall. Sad story made worst by fans using this to attack the mythical SJW instead of seeing the real issue of the bugs. I hope someone learns from this ... but his is EA all about the cash. So not likely

[@StrangerOman]

You know what can help this situation? A kick-ass free/low-cost DLC with like half-size of main game, showing what this game could be in the first place. But, oh well, I guess it's never gonna be it. But a DLC would be good, like really good. I enjoyed the game, but I want more.

[@Outlaw8908]

StrangerOman How about a spin off with a no name character present for only ME1 and ME2, and the old casts. Have this character deal with PTSD, and a someone not used to this new opportunity. Linear in scope, and not that large in cast. Based on one planet already colonized by the initiative, and being a sort of Western in tone.

[@StrangerOman]

Everything can go at this point for me. Andromeda deserved a comeback, maybe after Anthem release. I'm not a hardcore ME fan, I just enjoy the whole concept. We also have a Quarians ark somewhere. A big open window for DLC. So much to tell.

[@Outlaw8908]

StrangerOman For me I am a fan of the older games, the story of Andromeda just did not really measure up. I think if the IP has any future, it might need to try and move away from Ryder and the crew.

[@pest1l3nce]

You did allot of good research for this vid. Good job

[@DreamSmuggler]

Man, I bought Andromeda within days of it coming out. I didn't look at any reviews. I just remembered mass effect 1 & 2 too fondly to resist and bought it on impulse. I didn't regret it at all. I had 0 plans on pvp, which I never touched. The facial stuff was so bad it was actually funny, but the combat was exactly what I expected. I loved it. Zipping around in the nomad is something I had heaps of fun with, especially on a low grav planet I could never find again. Had I read reviews I feel I would've missed out on what was, for me, an enjoyable combat and story-telling experience. I haven't gone back to it since finishing the campaign, but I got my money's worth. Hat's off the team that busted their ass to get it out while getting shafted from all sides. Thanks for covering this :)

[@wickedwu22]

A prequel : Mass Effect : First Contact would have been an AWESOME idea!

[@ronniet6078]

Anthem doesn't even look good. Bioware said it's going to be the "Bob Dylan" of videogames lol

[@theolddarksoul1129]

Ronnie T how can you say it doesn't look good when there was barely anything shown

[@newrecru1t]

Ronnie T I trust Bioware Edmonton, Anthem has their team which is better rep. But Montreal is still a part of Bioware, thus they still leave a taint on the rep overall.

[@vallytine7290]

Oh, I remember Jason, he announced the No Man's Sky delay and got so many death threats from the fanboys.

[@joeman99983]

What is Casey Hudson doing now since he left?

[@notmyregret]

I don't understand... why didn't they just share the same tools that da:i had? this would have considerably saved more time... I mean, I wasn't a big fan of inquisition in all aspects, but literally everything in mass effect, was done better in inquisition. Hell, if it passed off as equal in quality to inquisition, I wouldn't be too mad, but the quality pales in comparison to mass effect one.

[@newrecru1t]

Supa Bambam This is speculation on my part, but I think the idea was Montreal had to do this on their own since Edmonton was busy with Anthem. Still, I think Edmonton should've helped out but it could also be because Montreal _didn't_ want their help. (pride is a stupid thing)

[@mrfluckoff4273]

So it was literally EA's fault. The basis for all of the issues stems from EA forcing Bioware to use Frostbite instead of something that is actually useful.

[@pwnshhhop51]

MrFluckOff It was Bioware's fault as well. They tried way too hard to do too much stuff and didn't use their time and resources well at all. They basically wasted 2 and a half years on stuff that they never could have successfully produced.

[@wildman958]

Cant people see that it was 90 to 95% Biowares fault? EA had something to do with it, but HOLY FUCK. HURR DUUR EA IS THE PROBLEM. EA gave them an extended year to finish it. Its Biowares fault. Dumbasses

[@theolddarksoul1129]

EA saw that dragon age was able to function on frostbite & so they didn't want any excuses from the Andromeda team since they had a template on how it should be made

[@jochenwenzel8878]

What Megas XLR said. Just read the article or watch the vid again. Frostbite did add its share of problems, but Bioware is the main culprit here. Having to learn and work with an new engine, that lacks all the possibilities and tools they were used to from the original trilogy, is hard enough. But jumping additionally on the procedural generation train hype? No concrete vision for the game for years? No effective leadership / office politics making a lot of people jumping the ship in mid dev cycle? It's a wonder the game didn't even crash and burn more than it already did.

[@peterfox6159]

Excellent, excellent video, YongYea! Thank you so much :)

[@ebonslayer3321]

I would have loved to play an ME game set in the First Contact War. Just imagine playing as Anderson.