Former BioWare lead says new Mass Effect could be made for ‘well under 200 million’

Christina Norman, a former BioWare lead designer who worked on the first three Mass Effect games, says a new instalment could be made for well under $200 million. Her estimate argues that a carefully managed, smaller team could deliver a major role-playing game at a lower cost than many recent triple-A productions.

Norman based the comparison on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which reportedly cost $10 million to develop, saying five times that budget should be more than enough for Mass Effect. At under $200 million, the game would still be the series’ most expensive; Mass Effect: Andromeda reportedly cost $100 million. The comments come amid efforts to save BioWare’s franchises after EA shut the studio and cancelled a fifth Mass Effect game; a petition to save the series had 325,605 signatures.