EA reportedly backed Battlefront 3 over Mass Effect 5 before BioWare closure
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
New reporting identifies EA executives’ choice to back Star Wars Battlefront 3 rather than Mass Effect 5 as the main factor in BioWare’s closure. The decision reportedly came as EA was limiting spending after a leveraged buyout left it with debt, and Disney offered the publisher a chance to make another Star Wars game.
Bloomberg also points to BioWare’s uneven release record since Mass Effect: Andromeda and changes among EA’s senior executives as possible contributing factors. Battlefront 3’s development reportedly has not begun, though Respawn and DICE are expected to make it; EA said the closure followed months of planning, review and analysis.
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In short
- EA reportedly chose Battlefront 3 over Mass Effect 5.
- BioWare’s recent releases and EA leadership changes may also have mattered.
- Battlefront 3 reportedly has not started development.
How this story developed
- 2 minutes ago The latest account again identified the choice between the two franchises as central to BioWare’s closure, while retaining earlier reporting on the studio’s mixed releases and changes among EA’s senior executives as possible contributing factors.
- 11 minutes ago The report added that EA was limiting spending after a leveraged buyout left it in debt, while Disney had offered the publisher another Star Wars game.
- 1 hour ago A Bloomberg report said EA’s decision to fund Star Wars Battlefront 3 instead of Mass Effect 5 was the main factor in BioWare’s closure, with Star Wars seen as the safer commercial bet.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
EA had to choose where to commit hundreds of millions of dollars, and backing Star Wars could be defended as a prudent bet on a familiar franchise with broad commercial appeal. BioWare’s mixed results since Mass Effect: Andromeda may have made another major investment in the studio harder to justify, while the reported decision followed months of planning and review.
The case against
Choosing a prospective Battlefront 3 over Mass Effect 5 may have sacrificed BioWare’s chance to build on a series closely associated with the studio, despite Battlefront 3 development reportedly not having begun. Critics could argue that this prioritised a supposedly safer franchise over BioWare’s distinctive strengths, and that the studio’s closure reflected a wider failure to sustain it amid executive changes and uneven releases.
Explained simply
BioWare is a video-game studio known for role-playing series such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Electronic Arts (EA), a large games publisher, owns BioWare and decides how to allocate funding across its studios and projects.
Star Wars Battlefront is a separate series of action games based on the Star Wars films, made by EA studios including DICE and Respawn. A choice between funding a new Mass Effect game and another Battlefront project would involve weighing the audience and commercial risks of two established franchises.
BioWare’s releases since Mass Effect: Andromeda have included Anthem and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, whose reception and commercial performance have been part of wider questions about the studio’s prospects. The reported funding choice matters because it links decisions about which games to make with the future of a long-running studio.
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Originally published by Rock Paper Shotgun as “EA execs choosing Star Wars Battlefront 3 over Mass Effect 5 was the main factor in BioWare’s demise, according to report”.