BioWare reportedly shut down because EA bosses chose to invest in the development of Star Wars: Battlefront 3 over Mass Effect 5.
Bloomberg reported that the main reason EA closed BioWare was because it had decided it could only afford to back one costly sci-fi action game, and Star Wars: Battlefront 3 was considered less of a risk than Mass Effect 5.
EA is under new financial pressures as a result of the $18 billion in debt it was saddled with in the wake of Saudi Arabia’s $55 billion leveraged buyout of the company. Bloomberg said that both Star Wars and Mass Effect were expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce, and despite the fact Battlefront 3 hadn’t even begun development, it was seen as a safer bet.
It didn’t help that BioWare’s recent games, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Anthem, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, had all failed commercially. Bloomberg also pointed to some internal politics that hurt BioWare’s cause within management.
BioWare had spent the past half decade teasing the next Mass Effect's setting and story before it was shut down last week. The shock news sparked an outpouring of affection for the studio's games, its staff past and present, and its legacy from fans and the video game community.
A trailer for Mass Effect 5 meant for internal purposes at BioWare soon leaked online, offering a glimpse at what might have been. The trailer, which IGN verified as legitimate, was created for EA leadership last year and was not meant for the public. The trailer has a number of familiar elements, including weaponry, powers, and alien species we've seen in previous Mass Effect games. There's a glimpse at a sex scene, a Mass Effect relay, space travel, and a nightclub, all of which are Mass Effect staples. There's even a galaxy map on display inside your ship.
According to Bloomberg, BioWare had around 50 staff working on Mass Effect 5 after EA gutted the studio following the failure of The Veilguard. This latest round of layoffs will see 400 jobs reportedly axed across EA, amounting to 3% of total staff. BioWare’s Austin studio reportedly remains open, working to support various EA games in development.
A petition to save Mass Effect is nearing 300,000 signatures, although there is no evidence to suggest EA would be willing to part ways with the franchise, even as it remains dormant. BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk, who alongside co-founder Ray Muzyka departed BioWare back in 2012, several months after the launch of Mass Effect 3, said the Saudi Public Investment Fund's $55 private buyout of EA was "the final nail in the coffin."
“I think that was the crux of it in a sense," he continued. "Once again it's a completely different company now... BioWare makes these kind of unusual games that take a long time and they're complicated and so it's easier just to pump out sports games every year and that's a better business model in some ways.”
Amazon's Mass Effect TV show for Prime Video remains in the works, despite the end of BioWare and the cancellation of Mass Effect 5. Star Wars: Battlefront 3, meanwhile, is in the works at Respawn and DICE, although we know next to nothing about it.