A new Mass Effect game in development at BioWare has been cancelled following EA's closure of the studio's longtime partner. The project was reportedly aiming to deliver "a level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match," according to a former BioWare veteran.
Tony de Waal, who worked on previous Mass Effect and Dragon Age titles, shared details about the cancelled game on LinkedIn. He stated that the team was striving to advance the Mass Effect series by learning from recent successes in the RPG genre, specifically mentioning Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3 and CD Projekt Red's The Witcher series. De Waal expressed his regret that players would not experience what the team was creating, calling it "something special."
The closure of BioWare affects approximately 50 staff members who were in pre-production for the new Mass Effect title. This development comes roughly a year after BioWare publicly affirmed that the game was still in development, a statement made shortly after EA's private acquisition was announced. The $55 billion sale has since been approved, leading to speculation about potential cost-cutting measures within EA.
This move signals a potential shift in EA's focus away from deep role-playing games outside of its established sports and shooter franchises. The company's current unannounced RPG projects include a sequel to Star Wars Jedi and a Marvel's Iron Man game.