# Why did EA close BioWare? Report says it put Mass Effect 5 and Star Wars Battlefront 3 on a scale

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/why-did-ea-close-bioware-report-says-it-put-mass-effect-5-and-star-wars-battlefront-3-on-a-scale/
- Published: 2026-10-30T15:25:48+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-07T01:41:04+00:00
- Original publisher: GamesRadar+
- Original article: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/mass-effect/why-did-ea-close-bioware-report-says-it-put-mass-effect-5-and-star-wars-battlefront-3-on-a-scale-and-guess-which-one-looks-safer-when-youre-usd18-billion-in-debt/
- Topics: Americas, Celebrity, Entertainment, Gaming

## Key points

- EA reportedly favoured Battlefront 3 over Mass Effect 5.
- Both games were expected to cost hundreds of millions.
- BioWare’s closure followed an $18 billion debt burden.

## Summary

EA has closed BioWare after reportedly weighing investment in Mass Effect 5 against Star Wars Battlefront 3, with the latter judged the safer commercial prospect. The decision matters because it ends the work of a long-running role-playing game studio and reflects EA’s tighter cost priorities after a Saudi Arabia-led buyout left it with $18 billion in debt.

Bloomberg reports that both games were expected to cost several hundred million dollars to develop. Battlefront 3 could build on a commercially successful Star Wars game and a major licence, while Mass Effect 5 would come from a series and studio that had struggled to match earlier success; EA also cited months of planning and changing business conditions in its statement.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.