Yesterday it became known that Gary McKay became the new general manager of BioWare. He started his career at Electronic Arts and was responsible for the development of the FIFA series for some time. Despite a lot of experience in the industry and promises to create great story RPGs, some fans were dissatisfied with the new leader.Gary McKay (source: BioWare)
BioWare announced McKay’s appointment in its official blog.
He joined the studio in January 2020 as head of development, and after the departure of the former head of the company Casey Hudson (Casey Hudson) took the position of interim general manager.
McKay noted that BioWare has always topped the list of studios he wanted to work with.Now he intends to restore the reputation of the studio.
“We will focus on the release of games, thanks to which BioWare has earned a reputation as a developer of high-quality titles for consoles and PCs, as well as online RPGs with rich stories, unforgettable characters and huge worlds,” McKay said.
On social networks, fans generally took the news neutrally, and some wished the manager good luck in his new place. However, part of the audience expressed their concern about such an appointment. In many ways, the concerns were related to McKay’s past work experience.
“I don’t know if he has any experience with RPG, and that worries me. Of course, EA owns BioWare, but EA games have a completely different spirit. I just hope that the upcoming projects will not be filled with microtransactions and political correctness,“ wrote one of the users under the post with the official announcement.
“He used to work at EA… I underestimate my expectations in advance,” another user noted.
“I dream that BioWare will one day “divorce” EA and start making games that are not mediocre again,“ wrote one of the users under the post of the Game Informer publication.
Others reacted to the news of McKay’s appointment with humor. “I will be able to trust him only when I find out who he “romanced” in Mass Effect 2,“ one of the users noted.
He’s originally from EA. There goes my dream of BioWare one day divorcing from EA and going back to making games that aren’t mediocre. pic.twitter.com/1RYt0xOmad
— Zippy McAwesome (@Zippy_McAwesome) June 14, 2021
During his seven years at the company, he led the development of several parts of the FIFA and Triple Play sports simulators, as well as the fighting game Def Jam: Fight for NY. After leaving EA, McKay headed several other studios and had a hand in creating games such as Turok (2008) and TRON: Evolution.
Despite the skepticism of some of the audience, BioWare perceived McKay’s appointment positively. For example, the studio’s community manager Jay Ingram noted the leadership qualities of the new boss: “McKay is an excellent choice as the general manager of BioWare. During the pandemic, he definitely proved that he can achieve results in the harshest conditions.”
According to McKay himself, now is a difficult and exciting time for BioWare at the same time. Despite the difficulties, the studio intends to focus on working on new parts of Mass Effect and Dragon Age. McKay also noted that in honor of the decade of Star Wars: The Old Republic fans will be able to count on new content.