RetakeME3 is an organization that is advocating for a new ending to BioWare’s Mass Effect 3. Here is Kait, a representative from www.holdtheline.com and retakemasseffect.org, giving a little background on the group and what to expect in the future.
The latest game in BioWare’s fantasy role-playing series went through ten years of development turmoil
In early November, on the eve of the crucial holiday shopping season, staffers at the video-game studio BioWare were feeling optimistic. After an excruciating development cycle, they had finally released their latest game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and the early reception was largely positive. The role-playing game was topping sales charts on Steam, and solid, if not spectacular, reviews were rolling in.
Its easy they called the die hard fans people in their nerd caves who will buy anything and then went woke to reach modern audiences....insulting the nerds in their caves along the way showing utter contempt for their fan base. very hapy it failed and any company who insults their fan base and treat their customers with contempt and insults, in future, i also hope fail.
It’s disappointing but not surprising to see what's happening with Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the broader situation at BioWare. The layoffs are tragic — no one wants to see talented developers lose their jobs. But when studios repeatedly create games that alienate their own fanbase, outcomes like this become unfortunately predictable.
There’s a pattern we’re seeing far too often: beloved franchises are revived, only to be reshaped into something almost unrecognizable. Changes are made that no one asked for, often at the expense of what originally made these games special. Then, when long-time fans express concern or lose interest, they’re told, “This game might not be for you.” But when those same fans heed that advice and don’t buy the game, suddenly they're labeled as toxic, sexist, bigoted, or worse.
Let’s be clear: the overwhelming majority of gamers have no issue with diversity, LGBTQ+ representation, or strong female leads. In fact, some of the most iconic characters in gaming — like Aloy, Ellie, or FemShep — are proof that inclusivity and excellent storytelling can and do go hand in hand. The issue arises when diversity feels performative, forced, or disconnected from the narrative — when characters or themes are inserted not to serve the story, but to satisfy a corporate DEI checklist. Audiences can tell the difference.
When studios chase approval from a vocal minority that often doesn’t even buy games — while simultaneously dismissing loyal fans who actually do — they risk not just the success of individual titles, but the health of their entire studio. Telling your core customers “don’t buy it if you don’t like it” is not a viable business strategy. Because guess what? Many of us won’t. And when the game fails commercially, blaming those very fans for not supporting it is both unfair and self-defeating.
Gamers aren’t asking for less diversity or less progress. We’re asking for better writing, thoughtful character development, and a respect for the franchises we’ve supported for decades. When you give people great games that speak to them — whether they’re old fans or new players — they will show up. But if you keep making games for people who don’t play them, don’t be surprised when those who do stop showing up
I thought the writing and character development were fine. Sometimes things just dont resonate with people.
BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk reveals his unrealized dream of transforming EA from within, with hopes pinned on SWTOR’s success.
for us gamers
Dragon Age 4: A Dream Unrealized
SWTOR was a great game on a bad engine.
Agreed, SWTOR still has some of the best dialogue from any Star Wars work. I think we all miss this old Bioware the most.
Former BioWare executive Mark Darrah says "be a human being, have some empathy."
Fans don't know who is actually to blame.
Darrah throws up a hypothetical that someone might not like how an actor delivered a line. Sure, it could well be down to the actor, but it also might be down to who was directing them, how the writer asked their work to be delivered, or maybe that was the only take they got.
This line from the video though
"Maybe the CEO of the entire company really wanted his nephew to be hired as a script consultant and this guy with literally zero experience was coming in and pushing for mandatory changes"
Like others have said that seems far too specific to just be an example...
Exactly. And the crazy part about this is that the people there just doing their job and trying to make a living are the one's getting hurt and losing their jobs. I am also not a fan of targeting specific individuals. Its poor form. These are video games.
If only there was a single problem with this game, it was a train wreck waiting to crash and burn.
As usual, common sense falls on deaf ears. I mean, he thinks this article is about Dragon Age Veilguard. He rejects logic and evidence.
What possible logic or evidence can you provide to convince him otherwise.
@Thorstein
Cant expect people to see reason now a days.
@Notellin
Sure. Go ahead and bury yourselves beneath your own ignorance.
Then don't use it for the thumbnail. It's misleading on purpose to draw this reaction.
Personally, i think we should always blame and criticize the management (especially top management; like with EA - every screw up should be blamed on Andrew Wilson and his goons). They're the ones with the power, the ones who have the last say in the matter - whatever is the plot details, gameplay, microtransactions, budget and «It's ok that it's buggy and crashes constantly, release the game ASAP, we'll fix it later».
Harrasement is not ok in my book, although, nowadays, many people paint every type of criticism (whatever warranted or not) as harrasement. Which is a very narrowminded and waters down actual harrasement problems. But, i guess, it makes it easier to ignore everything bad you see aimed towards yourself.
I would also like to add, that this topic is a double-edged sword, some developers are being mean to their customers, calling them names or any sort of -isms, that happens. In that case, don't be surprised, that, when you're «firing shots», customers are «shooting back» at you.
No you don't. Everything is criticized by somebody these days. By that logic everything is bad. Thats just more fuel for the echo chamber. The way you get games you want is by supporting the types of games you want by buying them. You want more games like Astrobot? Buy Astrobot. Recommend it to others. Its not about bashing what you don't like. its about supporting what you do like. Money talks.
Absolutely, I buy my games cause subscriptions are also part of the problem. I don't criticize myself personally, but by observing criticism by others, I avoid purchasing games with problems.
No we don't. FIFA and Madden get criticized every year and the games get worse and more overpriced.
Lack of profit is the only way to do it, but people are fine buying shit games every day, just not the shit games we talk about regularly here. We distract ourselves with this stupid 'social mirage' issue and the corporations get to keep doing less and less but selling it for more and more.
Says the only guy in the world that likes vanguard, I bet you like avowed aswell huh
Empathy always has value when dealing with other human beings. This includes empathy towards the fans who feel scorned and the devs who worked their asses off.
I think its time to get over the ME3 ending. I didn't like the ending but I move on.
Wow, there's an ORGANIZATION for this? It's one thing to be vocal about your displeasure with Bioware and the ME3 ending, but to form an organization over it? Good grief. Too far man.
Imagine what would happen if people were this passionate about real world issues instead of the ending to a video game. Because that is what this all boils down to. Even in the realm of pressing game industry topics, this is a non-issue. If BioWare caves to community pressure and changes the ending to the game, then the argument of whether games can be art is lost.
When an artist makes a painting does the art community have the right to bitch and moan over it and force the artist to change it to their specifications? If I was disappointed in the ending to Lost or The Matrix Trilogy (I wasn't, on both counts) does that mean, if enough grief is given to the creators, I can get endings changed to whatever the audience agrees upon?
No. And why? Because entertainment is art. Make of it what you will, even hate it you want to, but to think that we as consumers have the right to make a developer change the game that they wanted to make is asinine.
People are acting as though Mass Effect 3 is a new sandwich they tried at McDonalds and it wasn't as good as they had hoped. So now, they are going to organize and protest in an attempt to bend the corporation to the will of the masses and remake the sandwich the way they would have if they were running things...which they aren't.
Truth be told, we haven't seen the end of Mass Effect 3 and I'm not talking about the "revised" ending. If BioWare is doing anything like ME2, there will be more . Hell, ME2 wasn't totally completed until the last DLC was released which was over a year after launch.
I get the feeling all people really expected was a generic game where you battle a big final boss, watch a predictable cutscene, and the end credits roll. BioWare tried to go against convention and offer the audience something different.
And now, their "fans" want to crucify them for it. It's a shame.