Edmonton-based Bioware sold for $860m

[IntotheWest]

Not sure that there are too many video game fans on here, but thought I'd post this quick non-oil/gas story about Electronic Arts (one of the largest game companies) buying Bioware - which itself merged with another games company last year (Pandemic)....Bioware is Edmonton based still. They've been growing quite a bit in the last few years, and it shows not everything doing well in Alberta is related to oil

I'm guessing (hoping) they'll keep their main office in Edmonton, and not move it south or to Vancouver (where EA Canada has been growing as well). For those that don't know, Canada has a growing video-game industry, including Bioware, EA, and Montreal's Ubisoft.


EA buying BioWare/Pandemic for $860M

[UPDATE] Superdeveloper scooped up by megapublisher for a staggering sum, deal to close in January; deal covers 10 IPs, including Mass Effect, Mercenaries, and unnamed Wii and DS games.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted Oct 11, 2007 1:57 pm PT
A week jam-packed with Nintendo news was overshadowed today by an announcement that sent shockwaves through the North American game industry. Thursday afternoon, top publisher Electronic Arts announced that it will acquire VG Holding Corp., owner of BioWare/Pandemic.

VG Holding Corp. was formed in late 2005 when esteemed Canadian role-playing game studio BioWare formed the aforementioned "superdeveloper" with Californian shop Pandemic Studios. The union was funded by Elevation Partners, a venture capital firm with rock star Bono on its board, and brokered by then-Elevation board member John Riccitiello, who became BioWare/Pandemic's CEO.

At the time, the deal was seen as a break from the traditional developer-publisher relationship, which sees the former beholden to the latter for funding. However, when Riccitiello returned to his old job as EA CEO, many wondered if the move might presage a takeover bid of BioWare/Pandemic. These suspicions were further raised when EA agreed to distribute the Pandemic shooter Mercenaries 2: World in Flames under its EA Partners program.

When the BioWare/Pandemic deal was announced, Elevation made much of the fact the union represented a "combined investment" of more than $300 million, including future funding. Today, the company got a massive return on said investment, with EA paying $620 million in cash to the stockholders of VG Holding Corp. In addition, the publisher will issue an additional $155 million in equity to unidentified VG Holding employees, as well as assume $50 million in outstanding VG stock options, and will lend VG $35 million to fund the transition.

In return for paying a princely sum, EA becomes the owner of both BioWare's and Pandemic's original properties. Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age are among BioWare's original IP, which does not include such licensed hits as the Dungeons and Dragons-based Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, or the DS Sonic RPG. BioWare is also working on an unnamed massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Pandemic is best known for the Full Spectrum Warrior and Mercenaries series, as well as the THQ-owned Destroy All Humans! and LucasArts-owned Star Wars: Battlefront franchises.

However, EA was relatively cagey about which BioWare/Pandemic games will become EA properties. The announcement only mentioned one BioWare (Mass Effect) and two Pandemic games (Saboteur, Mercenaries) by name. However, it did say the two studios have "10 franchises under development, including six wholly owned games."

Pending regulatory approval, EA's takeover of BioWare/Pandemic will be final on January 2008. Both studios will become part of the EA Games division, run by Frank Gibeau, with Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka continuing to run BioWare, and Andrew Goldman, Josh Resnick, and Greg Borrud staying in charge of Pandemic. The two studios employ 800 people in Los Angeles; Austin; Edmonton; and Brisbane, Australia.

[itom 987]

This news sucks.

[Coldrsx]

^why?

It could mean a larger BIOware office here or who knows...but it isnt all bad. If anything it gives bioware resources it didnt previously have.

[CorporateWhore]

ah, i have several friends who work there...ill see if i can find out if there are any additional rumors because of this.

[IntotheWest]

^ Any idea how many are employed in Edmonton though, versus Austin? They are rated as one of the best companies in Canada to work for (can't recall where I read/saw that though).

They did already joined forces with Pandemic out of LA almost 2 years ago, and Bioware has been in Edm for about 12 years...they aren't leaving.

This is no different than HP acquiring Calgary-based Voodoo a year ago...they're still here, but as well have a much larger resource/marketing arm.

[newfangled]

Originally Posted by IntotheWest

^ Any idea how many are employed in Edmonton though, versus Austin? They are rated as one of the best companies in Canada to work for (can't recall where I read/saw that though).

They did already joined forces with Pandemic out of LA almost 2 years ago, and Bioware has been in Edm for about 12 years...they aren't leaving.

This is no different than HP acquiring Calgary-based Voodoo a year ago...they're still here, but as well have a much larger resource/marketing arm.

I had absolutely no idea that voodoo was calgary based. I don't know how I missed that, because I remember the millions of press releases for the HP acquisition.

[mersar]

Originally Posted by newfangled

I had absolutely no idea that voodoo was calgary based. I don't know how I missed that, because I remember the millions of press releases for the HP acquisition.

Likely as they didn't really advertise they were. Their main office at one point was a converted house (can't remember the street, but I recall the address was 1313)

As for Bioware it is a pretty big move for EA, but I doubt that they'd be moving anywhere fast.

[Canadian74]

Ubisoft is Canadian?

[itom 987]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^why?

It could mean a larger BIOware office here or who knows...but it isnt all bad. If anything it gives bioware resources it didnt previously have.

It sucks because the name "Bioware" will eventualy get lost within the Electronic Arts umbrella. Edmonton looses a valuable card when it comes to marketing itself to the world. Edmonton looses a piece of its identity.

[Kevin_foster]

This could be good news for Edmonton, but bad for the employees of BioWare. I hear they can be pretty harsh on their employees - I think EA is seen as the Corporate Giant in the Software world. So corporate moves, slashes, amalgamations etc. are very possible - where other software companies probably couldn't care less where their employees are as long as there is a Java shop near by.

I sometimes really (really) wish I would have gotten into software programming. Man - being able to wear shorts and sandals to work, have my own cappuccino maker and having group hugs on the hour, work days comprised of just playing video games on the couch and eating pizza, doing yoga sessions at work and having motivational after-work parties seems A OK with me

[Coldrsx]

^i know a few people who have worked at EA....while the environment is awesome, the typical 10-13hr days are hellish.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Canadian74

Ubisoft is Canadian?

They've got a couple of large development shops based out of Montreal. But they're French owned.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Kevin_foster

I sometimes really (really) wish I would have gotten into software programming. Man - being able to wear shorts and sandals to work, have my own cappuccino maker and having group hugs on the hour, work days comprised of just playing video games on the couch and eating pizza, doing yoga sessions at work and having motivational after-work parties seems A OK with me

That hasn't been true in pretty much any software development environment since 2000. And even then, it wasn't the norm. Thanks for bringing back the dot-com memories, though!

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^i know a few people who have worked at EA....while the environment is awesome, the typical 10-13hr days are hellish.

Game development is soul-sucking, horrible work. The only possible reward is that you just love games so much - which of course, after a couple of years of having your life stolen in order to create them, you won't any more.

EA just happens to be the worst offender. A 10 hour day at EA would be considered short. Unless you had worked them 7 days a week for the past 5 months without a single day off. Then you'd just be part of the team.

I've never met an EA'er who's lasted more than a few years, and without exception, every single last one of them regrets it. How the hell they get away with their labour practices in B.C. is beyond me - you'd think the left-leaning B.C. laws would have better worker protection against unpaid overtime with low-salaried employees.

[IKAN104]

Originally Posted by Kevin_foster

I sometimes really (really) wish I would have gotten into software programming. Man - being able to wear shorts and sandals to work, have my own cappuccino maker and having group hugs on the hour, work days comprised of just playing video games on the couch and eating pizza, doing yoga sessions at work and having motivational after-work parties seems A OK with me

And I sometimes really wish I had not gotten into software programming. At most firms 90% of the work is boring maintenance type stuff and at the video game makers they demand loooooong hours. No thanks.

[IKAN104]

I have mixed feelings about this take over. Will they keep the name Bioware or will they become just another branch office of EA? Either way, the control of the office shifts to out-of-towners, and that's the part that sucks.

[IKAN104]

Originally Posted by freeweed

EA just happens to be the worst offender. A 10 hour day at EA would be considered short. Unless you had worked them 7 days a week for the past 5 months without a single day off. Then you'd just be part of the team.

They prey on the young hot shots who've just graduated and are eager to make their mark in the gaming world. Newbies like that are generally willing to work long hours to prove their worth and do it all for low pay.

It's when they grow up and realize they've been taken advantage of that they leave and are easily replaced.

[CMD UW]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^i know a few people who have worked at EA....while the environment is awesome, the typical 10-13hr days are hellish.

But that's the industry in general, deadlines are critical. This is also why they have foosball tables, ping pong, sleeping rooms, chill rooms, and sometimes free meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner. This industry does not work on the 9-5 clock.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by CMD UW

But that's the industry in general, deadlines are critical. This is also why they have foosball tables, ping pong, sleeping rooms, chill rooms, and sometimes free meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner. This industry does not work on the 9-5 clock.

Every industry has deadlines. You think IT workers in the oilpatch don't have to deliver to just as critical deadlines as game devs?

Foosball tables don't change the fact that they're basically sweatshops where a lot of young people waste a tremendous amount of their young lives. Heck, work 100 hour weeks if you want, but jesus - at least get compensated for it! The game industry sure as shit isn't paying these poor saps $150k to sacrifice their personal lives year-in, year-out.

[CMD UW]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Every industry has deadlines. You think IT workers in the oilpatch don't have to deliver to just as critical deadlines as game devs?

Foosball tables don't change the fact that they're basically sweatshops where a lot of young people waste a tremendous amount of their young lives. Heck, work 100 hour weeks if you want, but jesus - at least get compensated for it! The game industry sure as shit isn't paying these poor saps $150k to sacrifice their personal lives year-in, year-out.

They make a choice to work in that industry and they can also make the choice to leave it. So blah.