Insider sier at Xbox kan kjøpe opp BioWare – men han vil ikke at dette skal skje

The biggest news of the week so far has been Electronic Arts’ announcement that it is shutting down BioWare and canceling Mass Effect 5. That has naturally sparked speculation that the studio could end up with new owners, and according to an insider, that could be Xbox.

Well-known insider Tom Henderson shared this view in a new blog post on Insider Gaming. However, he stated a deal could be unprofitable for Xbox. As an example, if the deal costs $300 million and the same amount goes into developing a new game, the project would need to sell about 5 million copies on Xbox platforms alone to break even, and there is no guarantee of that. Mass Effect is a fairly successful franchise, but the third game didn’t reach 7 million copies until 10 years after release, and Mass Effect Andromeda reportedly fell short of expectations.

Dear XBOX

Buy the Mass Effect IP, Hire the Best of BioWare and reform it.

You already have RPGs, but nothing like this.

It’s one of the best franchises in all of Sci-Fi, and there’s no games like that Trilogy.

The Return Of Mass Effect needs to happen.

Henderson also recalled Insider Gaming’s report from last year that EA had considered selling BioWare, but potential buyers thought the price was too high. That is a problem not only for Xbox but for other companies too, and it explains why Mass Effect risks becoming another franchise with no new releases. Still, according to former BioWare producer Mark Darrah, there is a chance EA will reconsider and sell the rights to both Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

As for the canceled Mass Effect 5, a trailer for an early version has surfaced, showing it was a potentially ambitious project subtitled Universe. Several developers have also shared details. Specifically, BioWare veteran Tony de Waal revealed Mass Effect 5 was inspired by games such as The Witcher and Baldur’s Gate 3 and offered players many possibilities and “choices that no other game has been able to match.”

Despite BioWare’s closure and the cancellation of Mass Effect: Universe, Amazon is reportedly still working on a series based on the franchise, announced in 2024. Most of the details about it, however, are still unknown.