Last week’s announcement that EA was shutting down game developer BioWare and abandoning new game “Mass Effect” upset a large portion of fans. Now the apparent reason has been revealed.
Bloomberg reports that the decision to shut down BioWare was primarily because EA was looking for the opportunity to create a new “Star Wars Battlefront” game.
Citing sources, they say EA executives were studying the company’s portfolio for the next few years and were keenly aware of the $18 billion in debt they were saddled with following the company’s acquisition by the Saudi investment fund.
They had planned two sci-fi action games, each of which was expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to create – “Mass Effect Universe” and “Star Wars Battlefront 3.” They chose the latter, believing that a new “Battlefront” game was more likely to be a success than a new “Mass Effect.”
While this is certainly not the only reason for the developer’s closure – poor reviews for recent titles and corporate politics, among others – it is considered one of the “main” ones.
This follows reports last week that DICE Studios and Respawn are working together on a “future project” that would be “Star Wars: Battlefront 3.”
EA said of its decision to close BioWare that they “collectively reached this decision after months of planning, review and analysis, including careful consideration of evolving business conditions, industry dynamics and our long-term priorities.”
Gn tech
