“What if Larian had shut down after Divine Divinity?”: Star Trek Online exec scorns publishers who close teams like BioWare in favour of “AAA veteran” start-ups and AI “magic beans”
Star Trek Online executive producer Thomas Marrone has criticised publishers for breaking up established game development teams and betting on new studios or emerging technologies. In response to EA closing BioWare, he argued that dismantling experienced teams wastes valuable skills and relationships, and can undermine publishers’ long-term prospects.
Marrone said successful studios often build towards major hits over several games, citing Blizzard, Larian and Arrowhead. He compared forming a new team from unrelated industry veterans to expecting a newly assembled band to become the Beatles overnight, arguing that creative teams need time to develop a shared vision and trust. Marrone has worked at Cryptic Studios for 16 years; the company has also faced layoffs and changes in ownership.
In short
- Thomas Marrone says breaking up experienced studios destroys valuable team knowledge.
- He argues successful teams often need several games to develop.
- Cryptic Studios has also experienced layoffs and ownership changes.
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The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Established teams carry shared experience, trust and working relationships that can take years to build; breaking them up may squander skills and make it harder to create ambitious games. Studios such as Larian, Blizzard and Arrowhead developed through multiple projects, suggesting that patient investment in a team can produce stronger long-term results than repeatedly starting over.
The case against
Publishers must respond to commercial pressures and cannot assume that every established team will produce successful games if kept intact. New studios can bring fresh ideas and experienced developers, while investment in emerging technologies may improve productivity or open up new kinds of games; directing resources towards those opportunities can be a reasonable attempt to manage risk and secure the company’s future.
Explained simply
BioWare is a video game studio known for role-playing games such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age. It is part of Electronic Arts (EA), a large publisher that funds and sells games. Publishers sometimes reorganise or close studios as they change which projects and teams they invest in.
Other studios named in this debate include Blizzard, Larian and Arrowhead, which built experience across several games before releasing major hits. Thomas Marrone, an executive producer on Star Trek Online, has worked at Cryptic Studios for 16 years. His comments draw attention to how publishers weigh the experience and working relationships of established teams against the risks of starting new studios or adopting emerging technology.
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