Analytic Says Dragon Age and Mass Effect Become Too Expensive for EA, Calls Shutdown of BioWare “Predictable”

Electronic Arts’ decision to shut down BioWare, announced this week, remains one of the most discussed topics in the gaming community, if not the most discussed. Fans are voicing their anger everywhere, but one analyst claims he sees nothing surprising in the closure. Moreover, he argues that the studio’s franchises have become too expensive for the publisher.

Industry analyst Joost van Dreunen shared his view, as reported by IGN. In his opinion, franchises like Dragon Age and Mass Effect no longer interest EA much, because they eat up a large part of the budget and don’t reliably pay off, especially given how the latest games, The Veilguard and Andromeda, performed. Van Dreunen added that EA will likely focus on sports games and shooters like Battlefield and Apex Legends. Even so, he says it isn’t certain EA can find buyers for BioWare, since that would take a substantial investment. You can check out his fuller comments below:

“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.

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. 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.”

Despite the analyst’s pessimistic forecast, former BioWare producer Mark Darrah revealed EA may still sell the rights to Dragon Age and Mass Effect to other companies, though he admits new games in those series may never come out.

Over the past few days, quite a few details have also come out about the canceled Mass Effect 5, subtitled Universe. After its trailer leaked, one of the franchise’s insiders shared the first details about the story and gameplay and revealed BioWare was making the game for true Mass Effect fans. Fans have also launched a petition with the #SaveMassEffect hashtag, which has gathered more than 120,000 signatures in just three days.