Mark Darrah, who served as an executive producer at BioWare from 1997 to 2021, has weighed in on the future of the studio’s beloved franchises after EA shut the developer down. The veteran says the publisher is now “more likely” to sell off IPs like Mass Effect and Dragon Age — though he’s careful to keep expectations in check.
Mass Effect characters (Credits: IGN)
EA Pulls the Plug
The shock news broke on October 21 when EA announced a major restructuring that spelled the end of BioWare and its Edmonton workspace. A small team had been working on early-development for a new Mass Effect title — but EA confirmed it has decided not to move forward, closing the studio outright. “BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly,” the company said.
The announcement hit the gaming world hard, with fans mourning the studio behind some of the greatest RPGs ever made. But it also raised a burning question: what happens to Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Jade Empire now?
Sell the IPs — or Bury Them
Speaking in a YouTube video, Darrah reminded viewers that “BioWare is 100% owned by EA. EA owns all the IPs.” With nobody left working on a BioWare game inside EA — and likely never again — he argued that might make the publisher “more likely to sell off those IPs.” But he offered a darker alternative: EA could “just try to forget that they ever existed and bury them in the vault.”
Fans have been clamoring for EA to sell, with CD Projekt Red emerging as a fan favorite thanks to the two studios’ long history. The restructuring also brought news for Sims, Fight Night and Star Wars fans — but for RPG lovers, the wait continues. As Darrah put it: “I think we still are gonna have to wait a little bit.”
Also Read: Star Wars Games Could Get More Interesting as Lucasfilm Looks Beyond the Big Studios
Source: IGN — read the full story there.
