‘They’ll just sit on their licences’: Little hope for Mass Effect?

BioWare’s closure raises questions about the future of Mass Effect. Fans are fighting to keep the series alive. But a potential sale of the licences seems unlikely.

For more than 30 years, BioWare shaped several generations of gamers with its games. Whether it was Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age or Mass Effect – the studio created numerous classics. However, no further stories will be added. Last Wednesday, the developer’s closure was announced.

Owner Electronic Arts (EA) is closing BioWare as part of a restructuring. The office in Edmonton, Canada, is also being shut down. According to information from Bloomberg, around 400 jobs are to be cut across the group, including around 50 at BioWare. EA confirmed the job cuts but did not, for its part, give any specific figures.

Numerous signatures for petition

There was a huge outcry within the community – after all, a fifth instalment of Mass Effect was already in development. A petition entitled #SaveMassEffect has since been launched, aimed at showing EA that the series continues to attract a great deal of interest. The response so far underlines this: by Monday evening, the petition had recorded more than 220,000 verified signatures. Two voice actors from the series have also joined the cause.

These include Jennifer Hale, who lent her voice to the female version of Commander Shepard in the first three Mass Effect games. She already has an idea of how things could move forward. In a video, she suggested that fans could join forces “to launch a Kickstarter project. Then a few investors would come on board. And eventually, a really cool games company would get involved too.”

Mark Meer, who voiced the male Commander Shepard, also commented on the situation. In an Instagram livestream, he described it as “very sad news”. Meer later picked up on Hale’s thoughts in a video of his own and called for support: “Save Mass Effect. Hold the line. We should all sign the petition.”

Toutain dampens hopes of a licence sale

Another hope within the community is that EA will sell the trademark rights or licence the series to another studio. However, Romain Toutain, who has been working as Franchise Technical Director for Mass Effect at BioWare since early 2022, considers a sale unlikely. On Twitch, he stated clearly: “EA basically never sells anything. They simply shut down studios and then sit on their licences.”

This assessment is not entirely unfounded. A look at football reveals parallels: in 2013, EA SPORTS discontinued the development of Football Manager, but retained the Bundesliga licences for years afterwards. It was not until 2018 that these were transferred to Sports Interactive.

However, it is also true that a potential sale would likely depend on the offers EA receives. The petition, at the very least, shows that players’ interest in Mass Effect remains high. It is, however, unusual for discontinued major projects of this scale to be revived. The hurdle to actually continuing the series is likely to be correspondingly high.