Mark Darrah, who worked as an Executive Producer at BioWare from 1997–2021, shared his thoughts on the studio’s recent closure by EA and what he thinks might happen to its iconic IPs.
EA announced a major restructuring in a lengthy statement on October 21. Amid some exciting developments for Sims, Fight Night, and Star Wars fans came the devastating news that BioWare — the studio responsible for beloved series like Mass Effect and Dragon Age — was being shut down.
“As we focus on these larger opportunities, we've had a small team at BioWare working on early-development for Mass Effect. We've made the decision not to move forward with this development, which means we’re closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace. BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly,” EA’s statement said.
This news hit the gaming world hard, with fans taking to social media to mourn the developer and send fired staff their well-wishes. But one burning question has risen above the sadness: What does this mean for the future of BioWare’s IPs?
Some fans have urged EA to sell them off to other companies, with CD Projekt Red being a big favorite due to the two studios’ close relationship over the years. And while nothing is certain, Darrah shared some insight as to what’s possible for BioWare’s creations in the wake of this devastating development — and it’s cautiously optimistic.
“Remember BioWare is 100% owned by EA,” he said in a YouTube video. “EA owns all the IPs. They own Dragon Age, they own Mass Effect, they own Jade Empire. That doesn’t change the situation, really, at all. …Now, there’s nobody working on a [BioWare] game, or games, within the EA organization, and chances are there never will be, which might make them more likely to sell off those IPs. But it might also make them more likely to just try to forget that they ever existed and bury them in the vault.
“I think we still are gonna have to wait a little bit before we see if EA has any interest in selling off some of its dormant IPs. Right now, they seem to be in cost control mode. They might start into a revenue-generation mode where selling IPs might be more desirable.”
It’s worth mentioning that EA was acquired by a consortium of private investors back in August in a mind-boggling $55 billion deal. As part of this acquisition, the investment group was reportedly banking on the hope that artificial intelligence might help cut costs to help manage its debt.
Given the investment group’s massive debt, some fans are curious to know if this means selling off some of BioWare’s beloved IPs to other developers — or perhaps back to BioWare under a different brand. For now, nothing is certain, other than fans and fellow game developers are equally beside themselves as they grapple with the news that Mass Effect 5 might never get made.