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October 24 Update (RIP Bioware) (Patreon)

Published:
2026-10-24 17:00:09
Imported:
2026-10
Tags:

Content

I don't usually talk about gaming news here, because no one is coming to my weekly updates for that, but this week is going to be an exception. As you might have heard, Bioware is now officially dead. I know that some of you will say it died 10/20/30* years ago, but institutions aren't completely irrelevant, and this one has personal meaning for me.

*(Yes, I once read someone who claimed Bioware had been making garbage since 1999, meaning they... liked the original Baldur's Gate and hated everything else? Or maybe they only liked that one mech game. I honestly don't know if they were sincere about that or just an older gamer with a loose grip on the chronology.)

One of the reasons I've always kept track of Bioware is that they were one of the only major studios to care about writing, in the sense of actually hiring writers. The big AAA studios do sometimes, but mostly hire bloggers and internet celebrities. In almost every other case, the writer is a funder or founder.

When I was in university, Bioware was one of the few game companies I sent an application to. Sent two, actually. Maybe my CV was insufficient, maybe my sample quest (in the old NWN engine) was bad, but I can tell you that one of the times they didn't even download the module I submitted. T-T

Anyway, from the above two paragraphs I concluded that I was unlikely to have anyone give me money for writing, so I got normal jobs and kept doing what I could. Eventually that led to TLS and the career all of you know, which has put me in a position I feel extremely fortunate to have. For all the difficulties of being self-employed, it also means that I can't be fired.

On one hand, I don't want to underestimate the counterfactual. If we imagine an alternate Sierra who worked at Bioware, presumably she would have made contacts and maybe leveraged that CV into something more. Maybe I'd be way better off than I am today in ways I'm not thinking about. On the other hand, there are no guarantees. I know some of you don't like him, but I think David Gaider is a competent writer and his most recent game flopped twice. Bioware as a studio is just a shell, but I wish their creatives well (hopefully Exodus will be good).

So in a sense I'm actually pretty fortunate. My current position may be unknown by non-niche standards, but I've built a strong foundation for myself, so I should be able to keep doing this for the rest of my life. Considering what an extraordinary privilege it is to be able to wake up and work on creative things, that's something I want to be grateful for.

That said, I'm playing in the kiddy pool compared to any of the examples I've mentioned. There's a fairly large gap between the level of funding required for the types of games I currently make and the next step up, even the lower AA level. Even if I have bigger successes, there's no guarantee I'll be able to bridge that gap.

By my best estimate, it doesn't seem likely that anything dramatic will occur to change this status quo. It probably wouldn't be rational for publishers to fund or hire me; all of my games have turned a profit, but big corporations aren't seeking a return on investment, they're seeking GTA or FIFA money. That was true even before the current drought in the industry and it's even more true now. I'd like to think that my track record of finished games has some value, but that doesn't seem to be what studios are looking for.

What I can do is keep trying the best I can with my current self/crowd-funding, producing games I hope that all of you will enjoy. If I spend my life making niche games that only a few people care about, well, there are many worse lives. ^-^

Because to turn this around into a positive, I am the opposite of a private equity firm. I don't make things to generate money; I only want money in order to make things. Thank you all for helping me establish this career! I never found a game company that thought my writing was worth anything, but all of you, collectively, have placed value on that. I remain deeply grateful for that trust and seek to return it as best I can.

Comments

AchtungNight

If it’s any consolation, I have enjoyed The Last Sovereign way more than anything I’ve ever seen come out of BioWare. Though I do mourn them too of course.

Zhaska007

By the end, only the name "BioWare" remained. I’ve loved Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age: Origins, KOTOR, and so on—but the people who actually made those games left the studio years ago. That’s just how life goes: people move on, some studios die, and others are born. Now, developers like Larian, Owlcat Games, and others are carrying the torch that BioWare once held. So, for me, this news doesn’t feel all that tragic. By the way, I actually like TLS much more than any of the games BioWare has released in recent years—so it would be a much bigger blow to me if you stopped making games! XD

Besrodio

Putting random thoughts here with regards to working at a big studio of similar prestige to Bioware, it's a certain level of success but also a certain level of disconnection and depersonalization. I exert basically a negligible level of control over the final product, writers have to shape narratives around constraints from stuff like engine, art production, or design, a single writer might be responsible for writing flowery item descriptions on existing frameworks from the narrative lead. My entire job only really exists because of the size the studio reached, it's a level of specialization that is only required for large scale live service games, I don't get to exist in the space of auteur visions, only market data backed + focus group tested designs for big time releases that need to hit financial goals via MAUs, conversion rates, winback, upselling, etc. All that to say I really value the phrase, "I am the opposite of a private equity firm," and the results that come from that. Also I hate to see Bioware close, bad results for 3 big releases is kind of the traditional death knell, but all 3 of them had amazing talent behind them botched and misused by a leadership structure that struggled after their integration into "the machine" and the departure of the founders.

Lord Forte Games

For what it's worth, I think your talents would have been completely wasted at Bioware. Even before it became a shambling zombie, your work is much better than theirs, in my view, and I can only think that writing in a corporate structure would have diluted your work in ways that would make it worse. And even if they cared about writing more than some, it was often pretty half-assed imo. (Some friends and I were just recently talking about how little real development the DAO companions got, for example). I won't say you might not have made more money there (though tbh, I question that--I'm often hearing how badly gaming companies pay compared to comparable positions in other industries), but I do think it would almost surely have been a less creatively satisfying experience for someone capable of success on their own as you've proved to be.

Fulminato

the most hurtful think in the whole situation it's the move don't have any sense on the industial standpoint. it's just cut the cost to keep the quarter gain up by some mostly useless higher executive mostly of them don't even know what their company are making or what that specific industry is different from other. it's the reason amazon game failed so hard, they try to worm themself in the market as they have done in many other, but videogaming it's different in some key area making everything a fail since the start.

Runcible Technician

While I wish you luck on getting rich and famous, I will point out that I've had a Crimson Gray background of Liz and John on my laptop for many an year. Your indie games make a difference to me at least. Also, they didn't even acknowledge Jade Empire in the closure notice. What the hell?

Jens Mikli

>garbage since 1999 Hi! yes! it is me old gamer! the argument is more that planescape proved that most of the real writing chops came packaged with the black isle logo (and bioware just gets credit for the infinity engine), ME and DA were fine but the draw was more the spectacle of the production values (fully voice acted codex!)

sierralee

The question for me with those smaller positions is whether they actually lead to bigger roles? Not to put you on the spot, but I'm curious as to your experience. I've definitely looked at the narrative directors of various games and tried to recreate their work history; I've found some unusual stories, but in many cases it's simply not clear.

sierralee

I'm glad my games can have an impact! >Also, they didn't even acknowledge Jade Empire in the closure notice. What the hell? Some of my favorite moments after the closure have been people going, "So... does this mean no Jade Empire 2? Or does it actually increase the chances?"

Abso Haram

Sierra, I'm glad you're here because TLS and OEA are fantastic. Better than anything bio has put out since the early 2000s. They've been on a serious decline since Dragon Age 2. Just cause someone was hot shit at one point, doesn't mean they're gonna be that way forever. You know if you had been working for them EA would have transferred you internally to another department to write dialogue for stormtrooper no. 1 for the next 10 Battlefront games or smtg. Dodged a bullet there. That's what happens when you go corporate. You make what some boring dick has focus tested into the ground. I'll keep paying every month so you can keep creating every month. Keep on keeping on.

sierralee

And I appreciate that support! I know you guys don't expect AAA games from me (in either a good way or a bad way) but I want to give back the most I can. ^-^

Michael Carrie

They are yet another victim of EA. All things considered its amazing they still made anything good after being EA'd.

Michael Carrie

I love Sierra's stuff, I've played most of her games and I'm listening to the third Depthless Hunger 3, but MA 2 and KOTOR both have special places in my heart. Her stuff is way better than anything they've put out in the past decade.

Besrodio

I guess two parter answer to that: people who have been around for 10-20 years have grown and reached those leadership roles within the studio, but that's a profoundly small slice of the studio population - far as I can tell most people in higher roles even if they started small at our studio got there by bouncing to other studios for promotions and then coming back, this seems especially true of art roles, including narrative. The other part of that is that even finding a studio that can live for 10-20 years is a tall order, as evidenced by much recent news. Career progression seems most easily met by simply mercenary jumping to the next bidder when the opportunity arises.

Nathan Phoenix

When I wrote my first review of Last Sovereign I said that the writing reminded me of the Bioware of old. Back when story was the most important part of the game. For me, Bioware died after ME3 and I started calling them Biowhere? after trashing my The Old Republic collectors edition. That aside, I still count LS as one of the best written games I have played in the last 35 years. And easily in the top 5 adult games.

Victor

The only reason I'd personally count TLS and Once Ever After as AA is because I think RPGMaker, while providing a lot of options, limits 'could it could have been', but I think they border on AAA in the terms of what those terms are supposed to mean for the gaming industry. Yes, technically, they are indie, but the sheer quality of the work makes that term feel limiting for what they are. It's very hard to make me cry, but even on my 4th playthrough of TLS I still tear up for Fancy Walk. I lose my mind every damn time because you made the closest representation of what I can only describe as pre-Dante's Inferno biblical Hell. A lot of things are not great right now, but at the very least I'm glad I'm in the timeline with this version of your games, even as I long for a possible timeline in which you got a budget of a million to make them.

AnythingAtAll

Ooh, I don't think I've seen you say that you're comfortable enough financially to do this for life before. That's super positive news for me!

sierralee

I mean, there are no guarantees in life and it's all a matter of degree. That said, I have a variety of income streams that have proved stable. I have not succumbed to any lifestyle inflation during my career, so I could take some pretty severe hits without it ruining me financially.

Zekuro

For what it is worth, Baldur gate aside, I would pick your games over bioware games without any hesitation. Bioware has been dead since 2010. We can finally do the funerals and say goodbye.