A new Bloomberg report from Jason Schreier says EA had two expensive sci-fi games on the table, the next Mass Effect and Star Wars Battlefront III, and picked Star Wars. The kicker: Bloomberg says Battlefront III hasn't even started development. Here's what the report says, how we got here, and what it means for Mass Effect fans.
There’s finally a reported answer for why EA pulled the plug on BioWare, and it isn’t the reason most of the internet was arguing about. According to a new Bloomberg report from Jason Schreier, published this morning, Electronic Arts was staring at two big sci-fi action games that were each projected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars: a third Star Wars Battlefront, which Bloomberg describes as an opportunity with Lucasfilm, and the next Mass Effect. According to Bloomberg’s sources, EA chose Star Wars, and BioWare was shut down as a result. EA hasn’t confirmed that account, and EA and Lucasfilm haven’t announced a Battlefront III.
Update 10:18 AM ET: We’ve now read Bloomberg’s full piece. Schreier frames it as a full circle: EA bought BioWare in 2007 on the promise of an ambitious Star Wars game, and nearly two decades later it closed the studio for the same reason. The main factor, according to people familiar with the company’s strategy, was a new opportunity with Disney’s Lucasfilm to make a third Star Wars Battlefront.
Bloomberg’s story runs under the line “Facing financial pressure, the video-game publisher chose ‘Star Wars’ over ‘Mass Effect’.” Schreier teased it on X by saying people online blamed everything from the studio being “too woke” to Saudi Arabia, and that “The real reason? Star Wars.”
What the report says
- EA executives reviewed the company’s portfolio for the next few years and found two sci-fi action games each projected to cost “hundreds of millions of dollars”: Star Wars Battlefront III and the next Mass Effect.
- They “chose to invest in Star Wars and shut down BioWare as a result,” according to people familiar with the decision who spoke to Bloomberg anonymously.
- Star Wars Battlefront III “has not even begun development yet,” Bloomberg says.
- According to Bloomberg, EA executives saw Battlefront III as a less risky, more predictable bet than a new Mass Effect, and Bloomberg notes the publisher behind Battlefield has always been more comfortable with shooters than RPGs.
Update 10:18 AM ET: Bloomberg ties the decision to money. EA’s $55 billion leveraged buyout, led by Saudi Arabia’s investment fund, was finalized in August, took the company private and left it with $18 billion in debt. Bloomberg also points to a summer executive shuffle: EA Sports veterans David Tinson and Cam Weber were promoted, while Laura Miele, who ran EA’s studios and had backed BioWare and Mass Effect, was sidelined.
What EA says
Update 10:18 AM ET: An EA spokesperson told Bloomberg the company “collectively reached this decision following months of planning, review, and analysis, including careful consideration of evolving business conditions, industry dynamics, and our long-term priorities.” The spokesperson added: “While this is never easy, we ultimately have to make tough decisions to focus our teams on the biggest opportunities for our future, including investing in new projects across our portfolio.”
Where the next Mass Effect actually was
Update 10:18 AM ET: Per Bloomberg:
- The next Mass Effect was announced in 2020 and was still in pre-production.
- It was paused for two years so the team could work on Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
- Only a small group was left on it after the January 2025 layoffs.
- It was “years away from completion.”
- A Mass Effect TV show is still in development at Amazon, so the series isn’t going away on screen.
How we got here
- October 21: BioWare confirmed on its official blog that “BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending.” Bloomberg reported about 400 job cuts across EA at the time, including about 50 at BioWare. Update 10:18 AM ET: Bloomberg says EA had already gutted BioWare and moved staff to other teams, leaving just 50 people there when it closed. It’s still unclear whether EA tried to sell the studio first.
- The money pressure: EA closed its $55 billion sale to a group led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners a couple of months before the closure, a deal that took EA private. Update 10:18 AM ET: Bloomberg puts the resulting debt at $18 billion and says the buyout was finalized in August.
- The track record: BioWare’s last two big games, Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017) and Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024), didn’t hit EA’s expectations. EA said in January 2025 that Veilguard reached about 1.5 million players, nearly 50% below what it expected. Update 10:18 AM ET: Bloomberg says Veilguard “missed sales expectations by 50%,” calls Andromeda “often-memed” and Anthem (2019) “disastrous,” and notes Veilguard’s team dealt with EA mandates that flip-flopped between single-player and multiplayer.
- The history: Update 10:18 AM ET: Schreier writes that EA and BioWare were “always an awkward fit,” and puts it this way: EA was “the jock hanging out by the bleachers; BioWare was the nerd playing Dungeons & Dragons in the cafeteria.” BioWare was sold to Elevation Partners in 2005, and after John Riccitiello became EA CEO in 2007, EA bought BioWare and Pandemic for “more than $800 million.” The partnership had real wins: Star Wars: The Old Republic made more than $1 billion, and Dragon Age: Inquisition won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2014. It also had recurring problems, including director changes mid-production, struggles with the Frostbite engine, and the “BioWare magic” crunch.
- The fans: since the closure, Mass Effect fans have rallied online under #SaveMassEffect with a Change.org petition asking EA to fund the next game or license the series out.
What we still don’t know
- Update 10:18 AM ET: EA did give Bloomberg a statement (see “What EA says” above), but it doesn’t address Star Wars or Mass Effect directly.
- Bloomberg doesn’t give exact budgets beyond “hundreds of millions” for each game.
- There’s no word on what happens to the Mass Effect, Dragon Age or Jade Empire rights, or whether EA would ever sell or license them.
- EA and Lucasfilm haven’t announced Star Wars Battlefront III, and there’s no release window or studio attached. For now it exists only in Bloomberg’s reporting.
OnPoint’s take: This one stings in a different way. BioWare wasn’t killed because of politics, and it wasn’t killed because Mass Effect was dead. It was killed in a spreadsheet. EA looked at a series with real fans who are literally signing petitions right now, and a Star Wars shooter that doesn’t even exist yet, and picked the one that doesn’t exist yet. That tells you everything about how EA sees risk.
Update 10:18 AM ET: The full report makes it even clearer. $18 billion in debt, sports executives moving up, the studio’s biggest champion sidelined, and a Mass Effect that was still years out. Bloomberg’s closing line says it all: budgets keep growing while sales don’t, “And Star Wars is bigger than most.” This is the same BioWare that gave us The Old Republic and a Game of the Year winner. An Amazon show is still coming, so the brand has value. EA just won’t pay to make the game.
Here’s what people aren’t seeing. If EA thinks Mass Effect is too risky to fund, that’s a property sitting on a shelf that EA has already decided it doesn’t want to pay for. That’s exactly the kind of IP a platform holder that loves RPGs and owns Bethesda, Obsidian and inXile could actually do something with. Mass Effect started as an Xbox 360 exclusive published by Microsoft. We said it on October 21 and we’ll say it again: Asha, go get it. The fans have already proven the demand is there.
Respect to everyone at BioWare who lost their job over a budget call. It is what it is, but it’s a bad look.
Sources
- Bloomberg (Jason Schreier): Why Electronic Arts Shut Down BioWare
- Jason Schreier on X: post sharing the report
- Wario64 on X: report excerpt
- BioWare Blog: BioWare Update
- BBC: BioWare: Mass Effect and Dragon Age video game studio to close
- Electronic Arts (Jan 22, 2025): Electronic Arts Pre-Announces Preliminary Q3 FY25 Results
- OnPoint 4 Gamers: EA Is Closing BioWare. Xbox Should Bring Mass Effect Home (Oct 21)
Image: Electronic Arts / BioWare / Lucasfilm / OnPoint 4 Gamers
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