Electronic Arts, better known as EA these days, has been going through a really rough spell. I don’t need to tell you that. Anyone who’s been paying attention can see it. But today, I think we’ve reached the point where EA is caught in a downward spiral that I’m not sure it can pull itself out of. Today, BioWare took to social media to announce that it is closing its doors after more than 30 years, and that early development on the next Mass Effect game, one I’ve been looking forward to for years, has come to an end.
Now, mind you, there are a lot of moving parts here, but I’m going to be upfront about how I feel. BioWare was already shrinking before the buyout was ever announced, with developers shuffled onto other EA projects in early 2025 so the studio could narrow its focus to Mass Effect. That was the writing on the wall. What the buyout did was take a company already trimming its ambitions and bury it under an enormous pile of debt.
The deal was a massive $55 billion buyout backed by an investment group that included Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake,...
