As the fallout from the closure of BioWare continues, more and more details are being revealed about what was apparently happening behind closed doors. And that includes the fact that EA reportedly chose to invest in Star Wars over Mass Effect.
Jason Schreier has penned a new article on Bloomberg discussing the closure of BioWare. In in, he corroborates the rumours that EA is working on a new Star Wars: Battlefront game, discussing the fact that EA found themselves looking at two sci-fi projects that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars: Battlefront 3, and the now cancelled Mass Effect: Universe.
“They chose to invest in Star Wars and shut down BioWare as a result, said the people familiar, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to the press,” wrote Schreier.
Star Wars Battlefront III has not even begun development yet, but EA executives saw it as a less risky, more predictable bet than a new Mass Effect — and the publisher behind Battlefield has always been more comfortable with shooters than RPGs. – Jason Schreier
Schreier then points out that there were, of course, many other major factors in the decision, noting BioWare’s poor run of games failing to meet sales expectations. Corporate politics were also cited as another reason, with Laura Miele – who was a big advocate for BioWare – being sidelined when EA changed up its executive ranks.
Speaking in a separate YouTube video, Schreier expands on the financial pressure behind the decision. According to his account, EA’s $55 billion leveraged buyout by Saudi Arabia left the company facing around $18 billion in debt, prompting a review of where it could cut costs and which projects it wanted to fund.
As for Mass Effect, Schreier says the game remained in early development despite being announced back in 2020. A major reason for that was its team spending roughly 18 months to two years helping out on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, including creating its final mission. Those years since the announcement weren’t all spent working on Mass Effect itself.
BioWare’s remaining team of around 50 people would also have needed considerable support to finish the game, either through hiring more developers or bringing in outside studios. Schreier says completing it would have required hundreds of millions of dollars, rather than simply enough money to keep those 50 people employed.
However, Battlefront 3 apparently hasn’t even begun development yet, and Schreier says that would also require hundreds of millions of dollars to make. I think that makes the comparison worth dwelling on: EA was willing to abandon a Mass Effect game that already had a team working on it in favour of starting another enormous project from scratch. Mass Effect clearly still had a long way to go, but EA reportedly preferred to put that investment into Star Wars before development had even started.
Apparently, EA also constantly questioned why BioWare could not release games annually like may of their other studios, another reminder that EA and BioWare was a mistmatched pair.
