One of the main reasons for closing BioWare could have been the opportunity to develop a new installment of Star Wars Battlefront, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.
As a reminder, last week Electronic Arts announced the closure of legendary studio BioWare and the cancellation of the new game in the Mass Effect universe that the team had been working on. Now, possible reasons for this decision have emerged.
According to Bloomberg, EA management was reviewing the company’s plans for the next few years, taking into account $18 billion in financial obligations resulting from the publisher’s acquisition by a Saudi Arabian investment fund.
During the portfolio review, leadership found that two large-scale sci-fi action titles were in development, each projected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. These were the new Mass Effect, which was reportedly titled Mass Effect Universe, and Star Wars Battlefront 3.
According to the outlet’s sources, EA decided to place its bet on Battlefront 3, believing that a new Star Wars game stood a better chance of commercial success than another Mass Effect. As a result, the publisher chose to allocate resources to the Star Wars project, sacrificing BioWare and its new game.
This information is indirectly corroborated by recent reports that EA tasked DICE and Respawn Entertainment with collaborating on an upcoming project. It is presumed to be Star Wars Battlefront 3.
At the same time, the decision to close BioWare may not have been driven solely by competition between the two franchises. Among other factors, Bloomberg mentions more subdued reviews for the studio’s recent games compared to its past work, as well as internal corporate disputes.