Franchises Like Mass Effect Are a 'Prestige Project' for EA, and BioWare's Closure Was 'Entirely Predictable,' Analysts Say

Games industry analysts told IGN that BioWare was likely doomed well before EA’s $55 billion acquisition, explaining that games like Mass Effect are now considered “prestige projects” for the company, and it’s unlikely the sci-fi franchise, nor BioWare’s other IPs, are sold off.

On October 21, EA announced a major shift in strategy and a significant internal restructuring that involves the cancelation of a number of projects, the closure of BioWare, and a reported 400 people losing their jobs. The Canadian studio, known for franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, was shut down after more than 30 years of creating beloved role-playing games. Mass Effect fans must now consider that the franchise is dead — something the leaked internal trailer for Mass Effect Universe made all the more difficult to accept.

Needless to say, Mass Effect fans were gutted by the news, hoping against hope that EA might sell off BioWare’s IP rather than letting them languish in obscurity. But analysts have expressed doubt that outside companies will take on BioWare's franchises, even as EA faces down a massive debt incurred by its acquisition.

When asked about this possibility, industry analyst Joost van Dreunen said, “maybe,” but explained that these IPs are likely far too costly — and far too time-consuming — for other developers to tackle.

“In many ways, BioWare's IP is in the same boat as some of the other studios we recently saw being divested. They are all well-known and too expensive for most buyers. Capable publishers like CD Projekt Red already have their hands full with their own projects,” he said. (He’s not wrong; CDPR certainly has a lot on its plate right now, what with The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 being in active development.)

The next Mass Effect was announced six years ago, at The Game Awards 2020, and this time last year Mike Gamble, now former executive producer of Mass Effect at BioWare, celebrated N7 Day to say the game was still in development. He even expressed excitement about the Amazon TV series (which IGN understands is currently still in the works), and insisted EA and BioWare "remain committed to telling more stories in this universe."

So what changed? Why cancel Mass Effect 5 now? Van Dreunen told us that, in EA’s eyes, legacy IPs like Mass Effect are likely being viewed as “prestige projects,” and the future looks grim for other development teams still underneath EA’s umbrella.

"Before its buyout, EA had been focusing on building recurring revenue streams, and the focus of its new owners is sports, live service, and new markets like Asia. Even if Mass Effect and Dragon Age were fantastically successful, corporate will insist on predictable cash flow. It makes franchises like Mass Effect a prestige project,” he continued.

“Considering the debt load, I'd expect to hear about more layoffs in the months to come. The memo already shrinks the skate. team and pauses a project for The Sims. I expect EA's town hall in November to bring more bad news."

Van Dreunen, along with fellow analyst Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere, considers BioWare’s closure an inevitable consequence of EA’s current business structure, calling it “entirely predictable and precisely what a leveraged buyout looks like once the deal closes.

“In this case, EA now carries roughly $18 billion in debt, which costs it about $1.8 billion a year in interest. That is more than its annual EBITDA of around $1.5 billion. EA has told its lenders it will cut $700 million in annual costs to service the debt. In that context, a 50-person team working on a game that is years from launch is the easiest line to cut, regardless of its legacy,” van Dreunen said.

“This news is emotive for many adult gamers because of Bioware’s long history of delivering games with deep narratives that connect with audiences, meaning it has a large cultural footprint. It’s a name that has been around for 30 years, so seeing it close is a significant moment for the industry. In particular, the original Baldur’s Gate games, Neverwinter Nights, and KOTOR were genre defining, and the later Mass Effect titles also strongly resonated with audiences,” Harding-Rolls told us.

Harding-Rolls added that the commercial failure of BioWare's last game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, played a part in BioWare's demise. And let's remember that 2017's Mass Effect: Andromeda and 2019's Anthem also failed to meet EA's expectations.

“Unfortunately, the studio’s recent big-budget releases have not performed well enough commercially," he said. "Ampere data shows that Bioware’s latest release at the end of 2024 — Dragon Age: The Veilguard — has sold an estimated 1.9 million units globally across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam up to the end of September, way below internal targets. The changing nature of high-end gaming and the need to cut costs means that it is likely that Bioware’s future was under discussion before EA was acquired by the PIF and its partners.”

It's a point backed up by MST Financial analyst David Gibson. “I think the closing is a combination of factors: EA going private and needing to improve returns and margins to fund large debt, high relative costs in the West (versus Asia, etc.) to develop AAA games, and role playing games like Mass Effect not doing enough sales to be profitable enough,” he explained.

“It appears there were many other games in development using IP which were also scrapped. I would hope a small and nimble studio would acquire some of the IP and make great games that users love and that contain innovation, rather than repeat the same stuff. EA has a history of making a series of games that are just not fun to play or contain innovation.”

Whether or not EA ends up selling off BioWare’s IP remains to be seen. Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah is more optimistic about this possibility than he was previously, but remains skeptical, saying EA could be just as likely to “forget they ever existed and bury them in the vault.”

We have much more on the dramatic news of BioWare's closure, including reaction from fans and the video game industry, and IGN's Ryan McCaffrey on why BioWare was the greatest RPG developer ever.