BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk disagreed with EA’s practices after the company bought and took over his studio. Therefore, he left the developer a few years later. However, he originally had a different, nefarious plan.
What did Zeschuk intend to do? In a podcast with My Perfect Console, Zeschuk revealed that he wanted to change EA from the inside:
I lived in Austin for two and a half years to make Star Wars: The Old Republic, and I knew that it was a kind of dead end. If it had been super successful, super duper successful, Ray [Muzka, co-founder of BioWare, Ed.] and I would probably have made an attempt to take over EA from within, as the corporate pirates that we are.
But for that, his MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic, would have had to be a bigger success than it ultimately was. To get to the negotiating table with EA, the game from the Star Wars universe would have needed to generate about 1.9 billion euros per year. But that didn’t work out, which is why Zeschuk had no basis for negotiation and left the company shortly thereafter.
You can watch the trailer for the MMORPG here:
BioWare founder disagreed with EA’s practices
What did he want to change? He describes that he cannot stand large corporations. They only exist to market games. Many North American companies, including EA, would try to squeeze the most money out of a franchise.
However, Zeschuk would not like this practice. He prefers to develop many good games like Mass Effect rather than a few titles from which a lot of money can be extracted. This includes live service games that are supposed to generate money with new content over the years.
How successful is SWTOR then? While the success of Star Wars The Old Republic was a surprise for EA, it did not generate the amount that Zeschuk was talking about:
- In an earnings call, EA revealed that SWTOR had made nearly a billion euros in revenue by 2019. Since the MMORPG has been around since 2011, it is miles away from the 1.9 billion euros per year.
- However, that does not shake the popularity of the game: the MMORPG is still one of the best titles for many players. It is very positively rated on Steam.
- It may also be that EA plans to generate a larger sum. BioWare delivered its last update for the MMORPG in 2023. Since then, Broadsword has been responsible for development.
EA still seems to have a lot planned for SWTOR and continues to deliver new content. If you want to check back into Star Wars: The Old Republic and see what has changed, you might be in for a surprise. Because your character name might have been deleted by now: The MMORPG for Star Wars is now prettier than ever, but your old character name is probably gone.
