Ex-BioWare boss says developers need to be more transparent with content schedules
Former BioWare GM Aaryn Flynn has said game developers need to be more transparent with their post-release content schedules in the post-pandemic environment, to avoid disappointing their players.
The past 18 months has seen a significant number of blockbuster games delayed, as large studios struggle with disruption to their production schedules caused by the pandemic, partly caused by a change in working environment but also a rise in competition for experienced staff.
The situation has seemingly affected live service games, with many titles such as Halo Infinite and Battlefield 2042 delaying post-launch content and stretching the gap between seasons to as much as six months.
Speaking to VGC, Inflexion CEO Aaryn Flynn – best known for his 20-year career at BioWare – said he believed players are mostly “fair” with their response to development timing, but claimed that many developers had overpromised in terms of what they could deliver within a certain timespan.
“I think players are ultimately pretty fair,” he said. “They want games to be great, they want them to be polished, and they want experiences to be respectful of their time.
“I think our industry has underdelivered and overpromised on some of those things. A lot of times when you see disappointed players, it’s often because a studio or team has set an expectation that they can’t hit. I get that… I can relate to that.”
Flynn was in charge at BioWare when it launched live service game Anthem, a rare misstep from the veteran studio which was ultimately shelved post-release.
The CEO said his Inflexion team – which is also comprised of many other BioWare veterans – had learned “valuable lessons” from their past work and agreed that developers needed to be more transparent,
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