What’s going on, BioWare?

Here’s the deal, folks. Mass Effect: Andromeda has issues. What those issues are and which of them are most pressing depends a lot on who you’re talking to, but it is objectively correct to say that BioWare’s latest game arrived in less-than-perfect shape.

Even the studio admits it. A Wednesday announcement on Twitter takes general ownership of Andromeda‘s post-release criticisms, and promises “to share more of our immediate plans” on Tuesday, April 4.

See here:

Now. Why is this so strange? It’s not unusual for developers and publishers to address criticism after a game’s launch. That’s what BioWare is doing here.

Yes, but the studio is also putting what amounts to a countdown timer on that discussion. Instead of saying “Hey, thanks for the criticism, here’s what we’re doing right now to fix things,” BioWare is turning the continued conversation into an Event You Should Look Forward To.

There’s really no other way to put it: this message exists to build hype. 

Where BioWare should be moving expediently to communicate fixes, it is instead planting a flag on a specific date. “Hi friends, we’re sorry, we know things are kind of messed up right now. Come back next week for more!“

That plan — which builds buzz without delivering any meaningful information — serves only one audience: the interests that stand to benefit from Mass Effect lingering in the public conversation. In other words: BioWare, Mass Effect publisher Electronic Arts, and the latter’s investors.

Here are the follow-up questions I think we should be asking BioWare right now:

1. If you do know what’s wrong, why not serve your audience as swiftly as possible and discuss it now?

2. If you don’t know what’s wrong — in full or even just in part — why are you chaining yourself to a countdown clock?

To be clear: I’m not saying there’s nefarious intent here (nor am I saying there isn’t). But accepting criticism in one breath, then attempting to build up customer anticipation for another week without actually addressing the specifics of that criticism in the next breath… it just doesn’t add up.

If you spent $60 on BioWare’s latest game, you are entitled to expect some kind of tangible fix. And you are equally entitled to demand that answers come without the constraints of an inexplicable countdown clock. This isn’t some exciting, new piece of content. This is fixing a mistake.

If there’s an overriding sentiment I want to leave you with, it’s this: don’t buy into BioWare’s reveal-event-treatment of what should be a mea culpa.

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