A new Bloomberg report claims Electronic Arts shut down BioWare mainly so it could commit to Star Wars Battlefront 3 instead of the studio’s next Mass Effect game. The report cites sources familiar with the situation who spoke anonymously.
EA announced last week that it was closing BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and cancelling the Mass Effect project it had in development. The publisher gave no detailed reason at the time. According to Bloomberg, the choice came down to which of two expensive sci-fi action games EA wanted to fund.
Two sci-fi projects, one budget
Bloomberg’s sources say EA executives were reviewing the company’s portfolio for the next few years. They did so with one eye on the $18 billion of debt placed on EA through its acquisition by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
During that review, executives reportedly concluded that EA had two sci-fi action games in its plans, each expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. One was the next Mass Effect, now believed to have carried the title Mass Effect Universe. The other was Star Wars Battlefront 3.
The sources claim EA picked the Star Wars game and closed BioWare as a result. Executives reportedly believed a new Star Wars release had a better chance of commercial success than a new Mass Effect.
DICE and Respawn on Star Wars Battlefront 3
The report follows a Variety story from last week. Variety said EA had told staff that DICE and Respawn Entertainment would work together on “a future project”. That project is believed to be Star Wars Battlefront 3.
DICE developed the two previous Battlefront games for EA, with the second released in 2017. Respawn, meanwhile, makes the Star Wars Jedi series. EA has not officially announced Star Wars Battlefront 3.
Other factors behind the closure
Bloomberg notes that the Star Wars decision was not the only reason. The report points to BioWare’s recent games reviewing worse than its earlier work, along with corporate politics inside EA. Still, it frames the choice between Battlefront and Mass Effect as one of the main drivers.
Anthem launched in 2019 to poor reviews. Dragon Age: The Veilguard followed in 2024, and EA later said the game had failed to reach a broad enough audience.
What EA said
In a statement to Bloomberg, EA said it “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 company did not address the Star Wars claims directly. “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,” EA added.
Since the closure, a fan petition to save Mass Effect has passed 200,000 signatures. A trailer for Mass Effect Universe has also leaked online, giving a look at what BioWare was building before the shutdown.