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MinnMax Interview - Mark Darrah On Anthem’s Launch, Dev Advice, And Leaving BioWare
🕑 Added 2021-06-29 16:16:00 +0000 UTCMinnMax's Ben Hanson interviews Mark Darrah about his career at BioWare and why he decided to leave the studio and is now building a YouTube channel offering advice for other game developers. In this interview Darrah talks about his history with crunch, why he didn't have the heart to see the next Dragon Age into production, the unreleased Nintendo DS game Mass Effect: Corsair, and his perspective on what went wrong with Anthem's launch.
Watch and share the video version of the interview here - https://youtu.be/WTSeEYEgZXg
To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below...
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:16 - Mark Darrah’s YouTube channel
00:04:46 - Lessons with Crunch
00:18:24 - Dragon Age 2’s rushed development
00:23:27 - Why BioWare can’t make small games anymore
00:27:35 - Mark Darrah’s next game
00:35:14 - Keeping Dragon Age’s secrets
00:37:40 - Thoughts on Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
00:39:35 - Mass Effect 3’s ending
00:42:27 - Developing Mass Effect 1
00:45:49 - Mass Effect: Corsair on the Nintendo DS
00:51:14 - What happened to Jade Empire 2
00:52:43 - Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
00:55:35 - Inside Anthem’s rough launch
01:00:45 - Why not delay Anthem
01:04:50 - Thoughts on Cyberpunk 2077’s launch
01:07:51 - The future of the Old Game Dev Advice YouTube channel
Thanks to the Thank You Crew at the $50 tier on Patreon! Get your name on the list right here - https://www.patreon.com/minnmax
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Comments
Mack Dack
Slamming these interviews...top notch!
Dylan Doyl
Really great conversation. I loved the aside on the economics of the DS. Great job Ben and thanks Mark for taking the time!
Austin smith
Really enjoyed this interview! The toxicity in the communities surrounding the release of DA2 and ME3 contributed heavily to me pulling away from engaging in the gaming community as a whole for quite a while so it was fascinating to hear a bit about that and game development as a whole.
Owen McCarter
You're killing it with the interviews, Ben! Always look forward to these and who you're going to interview next!
Mike Po
Fascinating conversation, and what coincidental timing for it to launch on the day Casey Hudson announces his new studio. Thanks for putting this together!
