Report: EA closed BioWare to fund a Star Wars Battlefront title over Mass Effect

Electronic Arts shut down BioWare because it chose to fund a new Star Wars: Battlefront game instead of Mass Effect: Universe, according to a new Bloomberg report. Game Developer summarized the findings on October 30, 2026.

The report says EA was unwilling to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on both projects. It describes the Star Wars title as an unannounced multiplayer shooter. Bloomberg points to financial pressure from the leveraged buy-out of EA, which left the company with $18 billion in debt that it is expected to repay from operating profits. Star Wars is described as a less risky and more predictable choice than Mass Effect.

Cancelling Mass Effect: Universe left BioWare with no active projects, which the report says gave EA ample reason to close the studio.

The shift comes about two years after EA announced a strategic move away from licensed games. It also follows by 18 months the cancellation of an open-world Black Panther game and the closure of its developer, Cliffhanger Games. Game Developer notes that EA's move away from licensed titles was never total, since the company is still developing an Iron Man game based on the Marvel character.

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk criticized the closure in a recent interview with 80.lv. He said that people who come up through the business side of large companies rarely have development experience, and that they do not understand how making a game works.