EA Might Sell Mass Effect and Dragon Age IPs, Says Ex-BioWare Boss

What happens to your favorite game worlds when the studio behind them closes? That's the question on everyone's mind after EA announced it's shutting down BioWare, the legendary studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age. The move is part of a company-wide restructuring that will see roughly 400 employees laid off. But the games themselves? They might not be gone forever.

Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah weighed in on his YouTube channel, suggesting that EA could sell off the IPs to help tackle its massive $55 billion debt. "EA owns all the IP. They own Dragon Age, they own Mass Effect, they own Jade Empire," Darrah said. "Now, here's nobody working on a game, or games, within the EA organization, and chances are there never will be, which might make them more likely to sell off those IP. But it might also make them more likely to just try to forget that they ever existed and bury them in the vault."

Darrah's point is simple: with no internal teams working on these franchises, EA might see more value in selling them than sitting on them. However, he also cautions that EA is currently in "cost-control mode" and may not be ready to enter a "revenue-generation mode" where selling IP becomes desirable. So don't expect a quick sale just yet.

The writing has been on the wall for a while. Earlier this year, former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider said he believed the franchise was dead after Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet EA's commercial expectations. Mass layoffs at BioWare eventually left only a core team to focus on the next Mass Effect game—and now that's not happening either.

But here's a glimmer of hope: EA doesn't need an internal studio to make a new Mass Effect or Jade Empire. It could partner with an external developer, just like Konami did with Silent Hill. Konami teamed up with Bloober Team, Screen Burn, and NeoBards Entertainment to resurrect Silent Hill with critically acclaimed games. Similarly, Lucasfilm Games has said it wants to be more flexible with partners after the success of Bit Reactor's Star Wars Zero Company and Fuse Games' Star Wars: Galactic Racer. So the door isn't completely closed.

Of course, the BioWare shutdown isn't the only bad news from EA this week. The company also announced that work on the new Sims game has been paused, the team behind the new Skate game is being downsized, and a "social-first open-world" football game is in development. It's a tough time for fans and developers alike.

So what do you think? Should EA sell off Mass Effect and Dragon Age, or hold onto them in case they want to revisit those worlds someday? Will you be picking up any future games if they do get sold? Let us know in the comments!