It’s Unclear If EA Attempted To Sell BioWare First
EA announced that it would close BioWare on October 21 and cancel the next Mass Effect game, while an anonymous employee leaked an internal trailer that gave a glimpse of the project. The extent of development progress, however, remained uncertain.
YouTuber Dantics argued that the team was far further along than EA’s statement suggested and promised something “truly magical,” whereas Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier says the game was still in pre‑production and years from completion.
The delay appears linked to the troubled development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which forced a two‑year pause on Mass Effect: Universe. Announced in 2020, the new Mass Effect was far from finished when the studio shut down six years later.
Bloomberg reported that the decision to close BioWare and scrap Mass Effect Universe was influenced by Star Wars, as Lucasfilm offered EA a third Battlefront title. Schreier claims EA did not want to fund two large sci‑fi projects and viewed Battlefront 3 as a safer investment, despite earlier statements about reducing focus on licensed IP.
It remains unclear whether EA tried to sell BioWare or its flagship franchises before the shutdown, but Schreier notes that EA has historically been reluctant to divest dormant IPs. The company is still moving forward with a Prime Video series that will span multiple seasons.