Hi, it’s the resident BioWare fangirl here at ComicBook.com. Nice to meet you. If you’re like me and have followed this studio for almost 2 decades filled with wonderful adventures such as Jade Empire, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Star Wars, and much more, then you know that this company is no stranger to building incredibly immersive worlds to get lost in. With a lot of changes through the years underneath EA’s management, and more so regarding the frequently mounting worries since Mass Effect: Andromeda, BioWare’s Casey Hudson wanted to take a few moments to remind fans, and his own team, about their commitment to inspire.
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We create worlds
of adventure, conflict, and companionship
that inspire you to become the hero of your story.
Above is the official, and recently updated, mission statement of this iconic studio and is the basis for most of their work. Sure, they’ve had a few missteps in the past – as with any studio, but their commitment to grow, even in the middle of change, is still very much prevalent.
“Videogames are a unique medium,” began Hudson. “The only thing that stays the same is that they are constantly evolving. Many of the things we love about games now were not possible a few years ago. And that’s one of the hardest things about making games—continuing to innovate and evolve, while staying true to expectations players have from previous experiences.”
“Each word of this mission is carefully chosen. For Example, we believe what we do is first and foremost about creating worlds. Beyond just individual games, we try to create entire worlds that players can really live in, which span many games and media, as well as fan-created work like art, fiction, and cosplay. Creating worlds along with our player community, and seeing them take on a life of their own, is probably the most rewarding part of what we do.”
A large part of what BioWare has given players is companionship. Whether it was playing online with friends in games like their Star Wars entries, or geniunely connecting with NPCs (Looking at you, Fenris!), there is an emotional element within these entire universes created that means something, that are special. That’s where the “Companionship” comes into play seen in their mission statement.
“Companionship means that our stories are always presented as shared experiences. You’re not a solitary character walking around by yourself—in a BioWare game you’re always adventuring with a group of friends. Sometimes those friends are other players like in Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Sometimes they are fictional characters, like in Mass Effect and Dragon Age. However we design it, we always want to capture the special feeling of being on a journey with memorable companions.”
He also talked about the aspects of it being “your story” in the wake of fan concerns that franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age have been abandoned in the wake of a multiplayer focus, “As a player, I worry about these things too—which brings us to the last line of our mission: become the hero of your story. In a BioWare game, you should feel like the story is about you. You create your own character, you decide what happens next, and you become the hero. I think the reason people are concerned about whether these things are possible in a multiplayer game is because it just hasn’t been solved well before.”
Hudson is a fantastic leader at this company and one that, despite those previously mentioned missteps, I have a lot of faith in. He also discussed a few more details about how Anthem can 100% be enjoyed as a solo player, as well as a teaser about new games on the rise – including one that is “very Dragon Age.” You can read all about that right here.
