Thursday, October 22nd 2026
Cash-Strapped EA Could Sell Off Mass Effect and Other IPs To Recoup Costs
Electronic Arts recently announced that it is shuttering BioWare and cancelling its upcoming Mass Effect game and cutting 400 jobs in the process, after the gaming giant acquired the game studio in 2007. According to a former executive producer at BioWare, Mark Darrah, however, there may still be hope for fans of BioWare's myriad beloved franchises, including Mass Effect.
As the former executive explains in a recent video on YouTube (embedded below), EA owns all of the intellectual property that was under the BioWare umbrella, and because they are no longer actively being developed for, there is a chance they will be sold. Although Darrah notes that we will "have to wait a little bit before we see if EA has any interest in selling off any of its dormant IPs," adding that EA is in "cost-control" mode, which may make the studio eager to generate as much revenue as possible, and selling game franchises may be one way to do just that. Darrah also comments that the closure of the studio seemed like the most likely eventuality once EA's recent acquisition by the PIF group was announced.
This is an eventuality, but Pocket Pair's John Buckley explained in a recent post on X, it's not always that simple, as "IP holders often have absolutely no interest in selling and when they do, the asking price is absurd," with the last point being especially pertinent, given the size and historical importance of Mass Effect. As was recently revealed, BioWare had put in enough work into the now-cancelled Mass Effect Universe that a trailer leaked following the announcement of the studio's closure.
Sources:
Mark Darrah on YouTube, @Bucky_cm on X
Mark Darrah on YouTubeRemember, BioWare, 100% owned by EA, so EA owns all the IPs. They own Dragon Age, they own Mass Effect, they own Jade Empire. So, that doesn't change the situation really at all... Now, there's nobody working on a game or games within the EA organization, and chances are there never will be, which might make them more likely to sell off those IPS, but it might also make them more likely to just try to forget that they ever existed and bury them in the vault.
This is an eventuality, but Pocket Pair's John Buckley explained in a recent post on X, it's not always that simple, as "IP holders often have absolutely no interest in selling and when they do, the asking price is absurd," with the last point being especially pertinent, given the size and historical importance of Mass Effect. As was recently revealed, BioWare had put in enough work into the now-cancelled Mass Effect Universe that a trailer leaked following the announcement of the studio's closure.
57 Comments on Cash-Strapped EA Could Sell Off Mass Effect and Other IPs To Recoup Costs
I think the ME trilogy was lightning in a bottle and perhaps it is best left standing on its own.
They really did him dirty with that one. But that seems to be par for the course when doing business with EA
EA has plenty of reasons to keep the IP for the future, it just depends on what they are looking to do, they got burned by millions, so they need to take the time to figure out the next step, and there is zero chance that CD Projekt RED will get the nod, they got their plates full as it is
sure, it might be a gamble, but there have been other games that were shelved for a long time, and came back to sell a ton of copies
As for the other series, Jade Empire should be a joint project with a Chinese studio. I wouldn't trust a US studio with telling a good Chinese fantasy story nowadays; or for that matter, a decent Asian fantasy story.
Mass Effect and Dragon Age should be sold off or at least licensed out to let other companies make games in the setting and expand on its universe. You could have Obsidian or Rockstar do an open world setting on a particular frontier colony within Mass Effect or a different region/continent within Dragon Age. Or let Sony's new team of Ex-Bungie staff make a Mass Effect game with some gameplay elements from Destiny. Or just let some quasi-indie studio do a smaller game in either setting.
Chuckles is all I've got.
Russiantotally legit Cypriot devs are comparatively cheap. Another option is Larian, but this isn’t their hat and they have Divinity for the “generic fantasy” already. As for Jade Empire… bruh, nobody but us old heads even remembers this game. Like, nobody is buying that IP.But we all know this is an illusion :D
Other IP's like Mass Effect haven't been good in a very long time, I wonder if this IP would have any real value.
I doubt very seriously they will sell any of the IPs. Chances are very good they will restaff and restructure the studio(s) with different goals and objectives shortly after they're finished shoring up the books. What they'll choose to work on first/next and what direction they take things won't be clear for a long time to come tho - and most of the people who were there, likely won't be invited back. I could always be wrong of course. :P
At this rate, he should just wait for the inevitable bankruptcy sale and get it for pennies! :p
(But then again, I had already gone through my moaning gamer routine with ME2 and accepted that he franchise as yet another action shooter, so appreciating MEA was easier).A few years earlier and they could have easly sold it to Embracer during that weird phase of theirs...
BioWare is wasted under EA, and everything EA touches turns to shit, instantly.
In saying that, there's no guarantee that whoever buys BioWare would be any better, and I'm not sure that any of the people who made BioWare good are still with the team. Toxic publishers like EA tend to stamp out talent and leave an empty husk of inexperienced developers who are desperate enough to stay with the soulless corporate overlord. See Blizz/Activision etc.