By Jim Rossignol on November 23rd, 2011 at 9:56 am.
A little more of the new Bioware game was shown last night, giving us a glimpse of APCs. Meanwhile the various nodes of the internet were at work, speculating that the new game could be either Command & Conquer or even a Mercenaries game. Or even Army Of Two. It won’t be that. (I hope.) The best lead is the clue that was in this LinkedIn profile, which stated at the artist worked for Victory Games, which was formed from EA LA to make C&C games. Combine this with the apparent disappearance of Visceral, another LA-based EA studio, and you have a bunch of devs who could have formed into this new studio. This could, it is speculated, be a new Los Angeles-based Bioware studio working on the old faithful.
Sounds like a jenga tower of theorising to me. And I think it’s time for a new IP, anyway… We’ll find out soon enough.
23/11/2011 at 10:01 DaftPunk says:
Honestly it doesn’t look like C&C to me.
05/12/2011 at 13:32 Ultra Superior says:
OH MY GOD !!!!!!
I SEE IT! Clear as a day !
It IS GENERALS – remember those GLA sentinel pickups ? what they did when you shot them with a tank? They exploded and the machinegun operator flew out just like the man on the picture !
GUESS WHAT – that black thing at the top is a machinegun. ITS GLA !!!!!!!! ME SO EXCITED!!!
23/11/2011 at 10:02 apocraphyn says:
Tanya confirmed as main love interest.
23/11/2011 at 10:04 meloncrab says:
And Einstein for the gay romance.
23/11/2011 at 10:10 Belsameth says:
Can I get Natasha instead?
(Yes, I know! Red Alert. Shush now!)
23/11/2011 at 12:20 Baka says:
My first thoughts when reading the headline were “Dear god, please, no.”
Now I have to yell it: No! God, please!
http://i.imgur.com/DwR4p.gif
23/11/2011 at 10:03 Furius says:
I definately heard the Tesla Coil attack in there, but I think that’s a pretty generic sound effect.
23/11/2011 at 10:24 DeCi says:
I heared it too. It’s in there multiple times. I doublechecked the original teslacoil soundbyte from youtube and its a perfect match.
Hmm Speculation yummm
23/11/2011 at 10:08 Duffin says:
Witcher 2 will be better.
23/11/2011 at 10:24 Gnoupi says:
Bioware will make The Witcher 3.
Zoltan Chivay will be romanceable.
23/11/2011 at 11:36 Duffin says:
And so will Varic. At the same time.
23/11/2011 at 15:14 iniudan says:
CDProjekt Red already announced the “Bioware” version of Witcher 2. =p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Ju8WVY2a4
23/11/2011 at 10:10 MrDreadlock says:
Will Kane be romanceable?
23/11/2011 at 11:26 Avish says:
Yes.
But you’ll have to kill him anyway, so he can come back in the sequel.
23/11/2011 at 10:15 Dariune says:
I can see the release now:
Bioware release their most indepth game yet. This is a FPSRTSRPGLULZ where you get two units per faction and two factions.
You start a game, press a big red button named “Awsome” and all the badguys die in a cinematic series of explosuns. Then they all ask you if you will go to bed with them in a romanticized way.
23/11/2011 at 10:25 DeCi says:
As long as i can have steamy gay sex with Kane im happy.
23/11/2011 at 10:28 Gnoupi says:
Do not speak ill of the “Awesome button”. Some games get it right.
23/11/2011 at 11:01 Burning Man says:
I thought that was a random mishmash of consonants before I realized it was a perfectly reasonable combination of genres.
23/11/2011 at 11:13 Cinnamon says:
Sounds like another epic and visceral entry in the burgeoning guns and conversation genre. RPS staff to give it 10/10 on Eurogamer, reviewing the xbox version for PC gamers.
23/11/2011 at 10:27 Zeewolf says:
Whatever they’re making it looks kinda boring.
23/11/2011 at 19:55 Enso says:
POW! Nail on the head.
23/11/2011 at 10:29 Lobotomist says:
Bioware doing C&C
Totally possible judging from the teaser they posted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gov2T0IF6nw&feature=player_embedded
After their quote : “We are EA” I dont care what they do.
Bioware is dead
23/11/2011 at 10:48 bit_crusherrr says:
It’s C&C Generals 2. I’m calling it now.
23/11/2011 at 10:51 Dariune says:
“Bioware is dead”
… and have been for some time
23/11/2011 at 12:35 mouton says:
Let’s not proclaim death so easily. It has changed, mostly for the worse, but for all we know they can yet make something decent.
I always considered Black Isle superior, anyway.
23/11/2011 at 13:23 Hoaxfish says:
yup, Bioware games were for the downtime between Black Isle games.
23/11/2011 at 13:38 Shooop says:
The fact they’re pushing their games on a cable TV network’s half-assed awards show should tell you a lot sadly.
23/11/2011 at 22:35 Betamax says:
@Shoop: I seem to remember Skyrim got announced at a similar tacky awards thing. You may not notice from your lofty perch but the peons of the gaming world apparently watch such programs in their hordes, and thus it makes a good place to make an impact with your new game announcement.
Ohwait I’m supposed to be saying how evil EAware are amiright? I’m not very good at this.
Shall we at least try to give what is most likely a hard working dev team keen to live up to the label that’s been slapped on them a chance before running them into the ground? You can’t even blame them for DA2.
23/11/2011 at 10:32 caddyB says:
Please just let C&C die after what you did to it EA.
Or bring back Westwood.
23/11/2011 at 11:40 Zoomon says:
I don’t see what Tim Westwood could possibly bring to this project.
23/11/2011 at 15:34 fyro11 says:
You kidding me? I love me some fake gangsta talk. Oh, and you should be able to romance him. More than Kane.
23/11/2011 at 19:57 Enso says:
Say what you will ’bout Westwood, he knows how to DROP THA BOMB!
23/11/2011 at 10:33 mondomau says:
That’s some impressively wild speculation there, RPS!
23/11/2011 at 10:34 riadsala says:
If it *is* a “new IP” it looks like it will be pretty similar to all our old IPs.
As much as I loved Mass Effect, it was a pretty generic (yet well realised) universe. Which reminds me, I should try and play Mass Effect 2 next year :)
23/11/2011 at 10:41 bsplines says:
That looks more like a cross between Rage and Uncharted than anything to do with C&C. Sorry, but a Mercenaries or Army of Two game seems more possible.
It’s all wild speculation at the moment though.
23/11/2011 at 10:44 Zeknurn says:
Picture and video teaser looks like it could be C&C Generals 2.
23/11/2011 at 11:11 Kollega says:
Yeah… i second this, the teaser video does kinda resemble Generals. Or maybe it’s not Generals 2 per se, but a project about near-future war in it’s spirit that’s not the original C&C.
23/11/2011 at 10:46 Bluerps says:
Huh. Bioware and C&C? How would those even fit together?
23/11/2011 at 13:22 Hoaxfish says:
Like Sonic and Bioware… terribly?
24/11/2011 at 02:37 DrGonzo says:
I really enjoyed that game :(
23/11/2011 at 10:53 coffeetable says:
“military-genre FPS”
Renegade 2?
23/11/2011 at 11:25 Network Crayon says:
Oh good god the horror!
23/11/2011 at 10:53 The_QC says:
I don’t understand how “a game by a new studio” and “a Bioware game” fit together. Naming the new studio “Bioware 2″ or whatever doesn’t make it Bioware, just like the various Rockstar studios are not all the same.
And it seems that the game is not even an RPG or a sequel to a Bioware game, so no relation at all…
23/11/2011 at 11:15 Kollega says:
SHUT UP DON’T YOU KNOW IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BRAND AWARENESS EVEN IF THE BRAND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PRODUCT IN QUESTION NURGLE FURGLE!
23/11/2011 at 12:37 mouton says:
Very astute, invoking Nurgle in this situation. He is, after all, a patron of decay and abandonment of all hope.
23/11/2011 at 13:18 Kollega says:
I just thought that “NURGLE FURGLE” sounds hilarious… but i guess that meaning works out too.
Except, you know, if whatever game they’re making turns out to be good.
23/11/2011 at 13:20 Hoaxfish says:
Isn’t Bioware, basically EA now anyway… that’s the only “brand recognition” I’m giving them.
“A new Bioware studio” is not going to have the “15 years experience” that they are trying to sell us.
Whatever “Bioware” is, it’s basically a very confused and nonsensical brand now.
23/11/2011 at 13:54 endaround says:
Bioware 2? Try 6. There already are Bioware Edmonton the original, Bioware Austin for SWTOR, Bioware LA for Facebook games, Bioware Montreal for taking tax money from Quebec, and Bioware Mythic.
23/11/2011 at 10:53 persistent_gloom says:
Maybe it’s going to be a Mad Max-style game?
That would be awesome.
23/11/2011 at 10:54 Teddy Leach says:
:(
23/11/2011 at 10:56 juandemarco says:
Nah, they’ll probably do the RPGless RPG of some erotic book. They’ll completely shift to soft porn in a couple of years, I’m sure.
23/11/2011 at 11:49 MrMud says:
You say that as if it is bad…
23/11/2011 at 13:56 Hoaxfish says:
Their animation certainly is jerky sometimes…
23/11/2011 at 11:12 derella says:
A new Bioware studio? Sounds like EA is using the Bioware brand to sell non-Bioware games.
23/11/2011 at 11:20 Chris F says:
Visceral are the SF based guys who do Dead Space, they’re still around.
23/11/2011 at 11:22 Aaarrrggghhh says:
Something interesting from the EA website (maybe it has been changed again by now):
EA BioWare Label
The BioWare Label is a division of EA which crafts high quality, multiplatform, role-playing, MMO and strategy games, focused on emotionally engaging, rich stories with unforgettable characters and vast worlds to discover.
There are more hints at Victory Games being a Bioware studio now.
Rumors taken from: (Sorry, its all in German)
http://www.united-forum.de/united-talk-f12/generals-2-10-12-a-106067/
23/11/2011 at 11:37 Dariune says:
I would listen to much to that.
Almost everything else in that statement is false … “which crafts high quality, multiplatform, role-playing, MMO and strategy games, focused on emotionally engaging, rich stories with unforgettable characters and vast worlds to discover. ” for example is all false except for “Multiplatform”.
Ouch my cat claws are out today.
23/11/2011 at 11:44 Duffin says:
I fixed it:
The BioWare Label is a division of EA that used to craft high quality pc role-playing games. They now specialise in rushed sequels, MMO and strategy games, focused on emotionally bankrupt, predictable stories with forgettable characters and repeated environments to rediscover.
23/11/2011 at 11:39 The Codicier says:
Okay I know this borders on heresy but…. I think a Bioware produced Command and Conquer could be a good thing.
A lot of people said Dawn of War 2 was as close to Diablo as it was to the first game in the series. Although I know that game was not to everyone’s tastes being a a lootathon based primarily about tactical choices and upgrades, not grand strategy. It’s single player campaign still did something different and accessible to many other RTS campaigns which have been utterly forgettable.
So then why can’t we have a Command and Conquer which borrows elements from Neverwinter Nights? Or Dragon Age? I do not see the inherent problem dropping down the scale of a C &C single player campaign to the squad level, and taking out the base building and adding squad leaders with some personality.
Story in C&C games has always been more prominent than in many others in the genre, even if it was a very pulp/trashy style of narrative. If you asked me to name three things from the C&C series the first things to come to my mind would be, Kane,Tanya, & Tesla Coils. 2 of those 3 things are characters who I remember because of their personality as much as any mechanic (Tesla coils I just remember because they were gawd darn awesome).
RTS Games have been progressively moving towards divergent single and multiplayer modes for a while now and Id be interested to see what a company With BioWare’s resources could do.
23/11/2011 at 14:31 tinners says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_conquer_4
It didn’t turn out too well…
23/11/2011 at 12:00 lith says:
There’ll be little actual gameplay, but every single GI you build will over a thousand words of back story – perfect for fan fiction crowd Bethesda pride themselves on appealing to.
23/11/2011 at 13:35 Tei says:
Dune, the game before dune 2, was a talk and rpg game like mass effect on the dune unverse.
23/11/2011 at 13:56 reggiep says:
Looks more like Company of Heroes actually.
23/11/2011 at 14:45 shoptroll says:
It couldn’t possibly be a proper C&C game. Everyone knows strategy games don’t sell and the next one is obviously going to be a FPS.
23/11/2011 at 15:29 vecordae says:
I’m so excited! Will Duke Fightington, my tough-yet-sensitive ultra commando from the future pursue the sweet, naive Orca gunship or the catty and confident Mammoth II? Will there be a steamy interlude involving Duke Fightington and A Poster of Kane’s Bald Head? Can’t wait to find out!
23/11/2011 at 15:39 Dave L. says:
I’m pretty sure it was just Visceral Australia that EA shut down a while ago. Visceral Los Angeles is still around, and presumably in the early days of Dead Space 3. Dead Space 2 was a pretty massive hit, so they wouldn’t just shut that entire group down.
23/11/2011 at 19:11 Matt says:
Visceral is based in Redwood Shores, at EA’s world headquarters, not in LA.
23/11/2011 at 16:05 Wizardry says:
It can’t be C&C surely. Van Caneghem joined EA in 2009 to head the development of C&C.
…unless Van Caneghem is now a BioWare employee…
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
23/11/2011 at 19:19 Kevin says:
Heard some speculation it might be a new CnC: Generals game, to which I say: “Bad-ass!”
23/11/2011 at 19:37 Inglourious Badger says:
+1 for the new IP. Bioware don’t need to piggy back on old, slightly jaded licenses. It worked with Dragon Age and Mass Effect, I don’t see why they’d dig up C&C for their big new thing.
23/11/2011 at 22:38 Betamax says:
Hasn’t grabbed me yet and the real world setting with tanks etc. doesn’t leave me with high expectations – it’s well trodden ground afterall. Add to that a mostly unknown dev team and I think it would be in their best interests to be quite open about this title once it’s announced. People aren’t going to get TOO excited just because it’s got the BioWare name attached, it isn’t ME3.
Impress my new BioWare guys!