Since BioWare’s closure last week, speculation has run rampant about why publisher EA chose to shut down the storied RPG studio as it was working on a new Mass Effect game. While many pointed to the studio’s struggles in the past decade or deluded themselves into thinking it was because Dragon Age: The Veilguard had a nonbinary character in it, a new report from Bloomberg says that it may have actually come from EA deciding which of the two big sci-fi projects it had in the works it wanted to prioritize following its $55 billion acquisition by private equity in August, and it chose Star Wars Battlefront 3.
According to Bloomberg‘s sources, while there were “several reasons” for the end of BioWare, the main one was that EA had the opportunity to develop a new game in the Star Wars multiplayer series, and that once the acquisition deal came to be, it was faced with the challenge of needing to shoulder $18 billion in debt. As the company reviewed its portfolio, it chose to prioritize one sci-fi action game over the other, canceling Mass Effect: Universe and shutting down BioWare in the process. As of this report, Battlefront 3 hasn’t even started development, but EA saw it as less risky, given the company’s history of funding straight shooters over investing in RPGs.
Bloomberg‘s report does note that BioWare had been under scrutiny for its most recent projects, including Mass Effect: Andromeda, Anthem, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, each of which was not as well received as the company’s earlier output. But some corporate politics may have also been at play, with Bloomberg noting that some EA executives who had previously advocated for the company, such as former COO and Chief Studios Officer Laura Miele, had been replaced by EA Sports veterans David Tinson and Cam Weber.
In the days since BioWare’s closure, Mass Effect fans have rallied under a “#savemasseffect” initiative in an effort to find some way to save the series and the canceled project, though there is a divide between supporters who want the game BioWare was working on salvaged while others are willing to see the series given to a new studio to ensure the life of the IP.
