Mass Effect цувралын гол дүрийн жүжигчид BioWare студийг ойлголт муутай эзэмшигчдийн гарт орсон нь тус студийн эмгэнэлт хувь заяаг шийдлээ гэж үзэж байна.
Mass Effect цувралд Командлагч Шепардын дүрд дуу оруулсан жүжигчид болох Женнифер Хэйл болон Марк Мир нар аравдугаар сарын 21-ний өдөр Instagram Live-аар дамжуулан BioWare студийн эргэн тойронд үүсээд буй нөхцөл байдлын талаар байр сууриа илэрхийлэв. Тэд студийн салбарт эзлэх байр суурь болон тулгарч буй хямралын талаар ярилцаж, хөгжүүлэгчдийн бүтээлүүд олон тоглогчдод ямар их утга учир, баяр баясгалан бэлэглэж байсныг онцоллоо.
Женнифер Хэйл тус франчайзын ирээдүйн талаар өөдрөг үзэлтэй байгаа ч салбарын шинжээчид үүнийг бодит байдал дээр хэрэгжихэд хүндрэлтэй гэж харж байна. Олон нийтийн санхүүжилт буюу Kickstarter зэрэг нь AAA зэрэглэлийн томоохон төслүүдэд хангалтгүй байдаг тул илүү том хэмжээний хөрөнгө оруулалт шаардлагатай гэж үзэж байна.
EA компани Ultima цувралыг 20 гаруй жилийн турш орхигдуулсан нь BioWare-ийн ирээдүйд тулгарч болзошгүй эрсдэлийг илтгэж байна. Зарим таамаглалаар, студийг аврах цорын ганц боломжит хувилбар нь The Onion-ийг худалдан авсантай адил, ашгийн төлөө бус, тоглоомд дуртай чинээлэг хувь хүний оролцоо байж болох юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
As reported by IGN, veteran actors Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer, who voiced the female and male Commanders Shepard in Mass Effect, respectively, directly addressed fans of the series in an October 21 Instagram Live. The two reflected on BioWare, and commiserated over its tragic fate. Here are some highlights from each I pulled from the stream:
Both actors’ reactions strike me as so characteristic of their respective backgrounds: Hale is one of the voices of videogames (not to diminish Meer’s own extensive resume). She jumped to BioWare’s place in the industry and its current crisis. Meer, a standby of the Edmonton theater and improv scene, fixated on the closure’s effects on this city he clearly loves.
Both are 100% correct about the collective joy and meaning people found in BioWare’s work. That’s something private equity can’t take from us—at least not with current technology.
As for Hale’s optimism regarding the rights and potential future of the franchise, well, I Want To Believe. Not to obnoxiously needle what seemed like an offhand idea, but I don’t think Kickstarter’s walking through that door. Aside from Double Fine’s Broken Age and the utterly baffling case of Star Citizen, many gaming crowdfunding successes—like Pillars of Eternity and Wasteland 2—still required further, traditional investment to go gold. BioWare and/or its IP would be orders of magnitude more expensive.
There’s also precedent to look back on: EA has not done anything with Ultima in over 20 years. Many people don’t realize this series was foundational to the development of both Japanese and Western-style RPGs, as EA’s poor stewardship has allowed it to almost completely fade from our collective memory.
But I think we’re all still waiting on a hero, a man on horseback, and the only riders with deep enough pockets to intervene here are billionaires, other companies on the scale of EA, or the state. With other publicly-traded companies, you’d risk replicating what BioWare went through under EA. I would love it if the Canadian government stepped in, nationalized BioWare, what have you, but it feels like a pipe dream.
The only semi-plausible happy ending I can picture looks like what happened to The Onion: A benevolent/eccentric super-rich guy steps in to save the day with little concern for profitability. Does anyone know one who enjoys RPGs (or immersive sims, for that matter)?
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