Potentially bad news for Dragon Age and Mass Effect fans as the future of these franchises could be uncertain, as EA sold the company to a group of investors including the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
The $55 billion deal also means EA is becoming a private company. This could potentially result in aggressive changes within its internal studios, leading to layoffs and cancellation of heavy hitting titles that don’t align to its new owners.
Among these studios that will be impacted the most is none other than the Edmonton-based studio, BioWare. And it looks like both its massive franchises, Dragon Age and Mass Effect are looking at a murky future.
According to this Insider Gaming interview with BioWare devs, it’s clear that the office conditions of the now Saudi-owned BioWare studio isn’t looking pretty good. These devs (who chose to speak anonymously) raised their concerns about the buyout, with some saying that it’s only a matter of time before things “get worse.” Other developers accepted this change, but “[they] are going to keep working until they tell us we're done.”
Overall, it’s not looking good for BioWare. With the next Mass Effect still in active development, there could be major changes coming to the game before its potential launch in the next few years. Worse, it might not even make it to the light of day. The Mass Effect series has been known for its deep science fiction writing with progressive views including LGBTQ+ characters with same-sex romances, to which Saudi Arabia isn't fond of. These are considered illegal within the country according to the Sharia Law and any mention of gender non-conformity faces backlash and discrimination.
Assuming the new owners will let it slide, we might see the next Mass Effect live up as a true sequel to the trilogy. However, in the off-chance that it won’t align with their views, there could be a possibility that we might see a toned-down version to one of the best science-fiction RPGs ever made. We might see the complete removal of any semblance of LGBTQ+ in the full game, where players can only have heterosexual relationships among the game's cast of characters. This could potentially create discourse with the game's passionate community, splitting its playerbase apart and could result in the game being undercooked or underdeveloped as the Mass Effect wouldn't work without it.
It’s not only the studio itself that’s worried about this major uncertainty. Fans of Mass Effect and Dragon Age took to social media, especially Reddit, to air out their concerns about this unexpected shift in direction.
The situation could get much worse as Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which came out last year, wasn’t the game players expected it to be. It was met with a flurry of negative to lukewarm reception caused by its odd narrative choices. Even EA itself formally admitted that the latest Dragon Age title was a failure, causing the franchise to be put on ice indefinitely.
Now, both franchises are on thin ice. While many would agree that BioWare is now a shell of its former self, the studio still owns two of the best RPG titles in the gaming market. Dragon Age was the perfect fantasy RPG fix made better with its impressive lore and worldbuilding, whereas the Mass Effect games are known for its impressive cast of characters and a sprawling science-fiction story. Seeing these franchises caught in a weird stasis due to its recent ownership doesn’t bode well for the studio, as well as its passionate fanbase.
There is no telling whether or not the Saudi-owned EA will continue to support Mass Effect and Dragon Age. In a perfect world, it would have to be supported until its release, but that kind of hope might not help from the grim reality that BioWare is facing.
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