Former BioWare game developer Manveer Heir was recently interviewed by Waypoint through a podcast about Electronic Arts’ (EA) current priorities. He has given his insight about the future of single-player video games in this video game company.
Heir was a designer at BioWare for seven years and worked on some popular game titles. Some of these video games are “Mass Effect 3” and “Mass Effect Andromeda.” He revealed that the game company has shifted to this new priority because they could monetize these games better.
Introduction of card packs
Heir revealed that EA has now shifted away from the single-player gameplay to open world and multiplayer type of gameplay.
The game company wanted those types of gameplay because they were able to monetize them better compared to the previous ones. This was the reason why the multiplayer feature of “Mass Effect 3” had card packs introduced.
Make players come back for more
The former BioWare designer stated that EA wanted players to come back again for more advantages. They wanted their customers to buy more card packs in the “Mass Effect” games’ multiplayer features. These packs were the microtransaction features of these games.
Heir said that this was their business tactic in order for fans to come back playing the multiplayer feature of their games. The card packs made players come back for more instead of just playing for only 60 to 100 hours long.
EA likes microtransactions due to rewards they get
The game publisher prioritized microtransactions because of a large amount of money they gain by it. Heir did not give a specific amount of money, but it convinced the company to make a multiplayer feature for “Dragon Age Inquisition.” He revealed that he has spotted some players spend about $15,000 on multiplayer cards for “Mass Effect” games.
New game, not traditional-looking BioWare game
Heir stated that the upcoming video game “Anthem” is not the usual BioWare game that they would make. It meant that any other single-player triple-A game at EA would not be conceived for the time being. They will focus more on multiplayer-type games for now because they could monetize these better.
‘Star Wars Battlefront 2’ campaign will be 5-7 hours long
In other EA related news, the game company revealed that the “Star Wars Battlefront 2” campaign mode would only be five to seven hours long. They want players to be focused on the fantasy of the popular "Star Wars" franchise and not drag it out longer. They did not promise any story-based downloadable content for the game as well.
Check out the "Mass Effect Andromeda" launch trailer here: