Electronic Arts closed BioWare last week after executives reportedly chose to support a new Star Wars multiplayer project rather than continue work on the next Mass Effect game, Bloomberg reported Friday. The decision followed the publisher’s $55 billion acquisition by a group including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake Partners and Affinity Partners.
According to Bloomberg’s reporting, the acquisition left Electronic Arts carrying about $18 billion in debt. A review of the company’s projects then placed BioWare’s next Mass Effect title in competition with a proposed Star Wars: Battlefront project. Executives reportedly viewed the Star Wars game as the lower-risk investment and decided to end the Mass Effect project, contributing to BioWare’s closure.
The projects at the center of the decision
The Star Wars project has been described as Star Wars: Battlefront 3, although development had not begun when Bloomberg’s sources discussed the project. Electronic Arts reportedly favored it because the publisher has a stronger record with shooter games than with role-playing games, according to the account summarized by Kotaku.
The cancelled BioWare project was identified as Mass Effect: Universe. A separate Kotaku report based on French-language reporting described it as a game set 600 years in the future, with a new protagonist and a major role for Liara T’Soni, a character from the original trilogy. BioWare was reportedly targeting a late 2028 release and had moved the project from EA’s Frostbite engine to Unreal Engine.
- Electronic Arts’ acquisition closed in August, according to the published accounts.
- Bloomberg’s sources said the buyout left EA with $18 billion in debt.
- The Star Wars project had not entered development, while Mass Effect: Universe was cancelled.
The reports described the Battlefront decision as one factor in BioWare’s shutdown rather than the only reason. The studio had faced scrutiny following Mass Effect: Andromeda, Anthem and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, while the cost of making games had increased and the team had lost developers over time.
BioWare’s closure ends the studio’s development of the Mass Effect project described in the reports. The decision also leaves the reported Battlefront project at an early stage: Electronic Arts had selected it for funding over Mass Effect, but the game had not yet started production.
