EA reportedly sacrificed Mass Effect for Star Wars amid $18bn debt
Electronic Arts (EA) reportedly cancelled the next Mass Effect game and shut down developer BioWare after deciding to prioritise Star Wars Battlefront 3, as the publisher faced mounting financial pressure following its $55bn takeover.
According to a Bloomberg report, EA executives were considering two major science-fiction projects, each expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop.
The company reportedly concluded that a new Star Wars Battlefront title offered a more reliable investment than continuing the Mass Effect franchise, despite development on the former not having started.
The decision came after EA completed a $55bn leveraged buyout in August, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund alongside investment firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. The deal left the publisher carrying approximately $18bn in debt.
Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier reported that the increased financial burden made predictable revenue particularly important to EA’s management. Executives reportedly believed Battlefront 3 would face fewer development uncertainties than another Mass Effect game.
Why EA chose Star Wars over Mass Effect
The decision followed several disappointing releases from BioWare, which EA acquired in 2007.
Mass Effect: Andromeda, released in 2017, received a mixed response, while the multiplayer game Anthem struggled to retain players after its 2019 launch.
The studio’s most recent major release, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, also failed to meet EA’s commercial expectations in 2024.
These setbacks reportedly contributed to EA’s concerns about investing hundreds of millions of dollars in another lengthy role-playing game development cycle.
By comparison, executives considered Star Wars Battlefront 3 a more predictable commercial prospect, supported by the established global popularity of the Star Wars franchise.
Bloomberg reported that EA had been presented with an opportunity to develop the new game with Lucasfilm. The project had not entered production when the publisher decided to close BioWare.
However, EA has not officially announced Battlefront 3 or confirmed that it cancelled Mass Effect to fund the project.
BioWare closure leads to hundreds of job cuts
EA announced BioWare’s closure on 21 October, ending the Canadian studio’s operations after more than three decades.
The decision formed part of a broader restructuring involving approximately 400 job losses, or 3% of the publisher’s workforce. Around 50 employees were still working at BioWare before its closure.
The publisher also cancelled the next Mass Effect game, which remained in early development, while confirming plans to concentrate resources on fewer large-scale projects.
EA said it would continue developing its upcoming Marvel’s Iron Man game and the next instalment in the Star Wars Jedi series.
In a statement addressing the restructuring, EA said the decision followed months of reviewing its projects, business conditions and longer-term priorities.
BioWare was founded in 1995 and became one of the industry’s best-known role-playing game developers through franchises including Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age and Mass Effect.
The studio’s closure leaves the future of the Mass Effect franchise uncertain, while EA’s reported plans for another Star Wars Battlefront game have yet to receive official confirmation.
