Just how many people does it take to make a great MMORPG? BioWare has revealed the numbers on the team that helped make SWTOR a reality. Not counting the voice actors, 665 people worked on SWTOR.
During a GDC panel, the company revealed the breakdown of the team members:
- 30 Production
- 75 Designers
- 80 Engineers
- 40 Platform
- 10 Localization
- 10 Audio
- 140 Artists (Both internal and outsourced)
- 280 QA (Both internal and outsourced)
The game reportedly cost more than $200 million to make and BioWare says they are excited for what is on the horizon and still yet to come in the game. They have a dedicated team still hard at work making new content for the game. (I got to see this team in action myself at the tour of BioWare Austin this past Monday).
It takes a full team of people, all working hard towards the same common goal to create a successful game of the magnitude of SWTOR. There are so many intertwined stories, worlds to create, quests and more. Not to mention the quality assurance that must take place, customer service, bug fixes and the many other elements that go into creating new content and keeping current content working smoothly.
While the BioWare office was quiet and with a calm ambiance about it, everyone seemed to be in their own zone working hard at their respective jobs. It was great to see this first-hand, the day to day inner workings of a game like this. The BioWare employees that I had the pleasure of meeting really show their passion for the game and their dedication to doing their own part to make the game the best that it can be.
They have to give up their nights and weekends sometimes in pushing out deadlines, fixing bugs and creating everything that you see when you log into your game to enjoy a play session.
