- BioWare was closed by EA as it decided to fund Battlefront 3 instead of the studio’s new Mass Effect.
- The company saw the Star Wars game as a safer bet compared to an RPG.
- So far, production hasn’t started on the sequel to 2017’s Battlefront 2.
Ever since BioWare’s closure, the gaming world has been trying to figure out the main reason behind such a legendary game developer shutting down. Many in the community, including the studio’s co-founder, believe that EA’s acquisition by Saudi Arabia was the main factor behind the Mass Effect developer being shut down.
The failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and EA’s massive debt are some other explanations players have come up with to make sense of BioWare’s demise. However, it turns out the final nail in the coffin for the studio was actually Star Wars.
Why it matters: Considering how Mass Effect is an RPG while Battlefront is a straight-up shooter, both of these titles could have stayed on the calendar.
According to a report by Bloomberg, EA decided to close BioWare as it chose to fund the development of Star Wars Battlefront 3 instead of the next Mass Effect. Sources close to the matter stated that EA executives had to pick one title, as the publisher’s portfolio consisted of two sci-fi action projects with a price tag of hundreds of millions of dollars each.
EA decided to move forward with Star Wars Battlefront 3 as it was a safer and less risky bet compared to the next Mass Effect entry. But, according to sources, the Star Wars project hasn’t even begun development, while Mass Effect 5 had been in production since 2020 and was finally moving forward, with a trailer ready for audiences.
Hence, contrary to popular belief, what ended up killing BioWare wasn’t a deeper conspiracy, but rather EA’s decision to fund DICE and Respawn’s next iteration of Star Wars Battlefront.
Regardless, BioWare and Mass Effect have regained a certain amount of relevance in the gaming world since the studio’s closure, with over 300k people signing to save the franchise and develop a new entry in the series.
Do you think canceling Mass Effect for a sequel to Star Wars Battlefront 2 was a good idea from EA? Should the company have greenlit both games? Tell us in the comments below or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devotedly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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