{"id":94883,"date":"2026-10-22T15:10:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=94883"},"modified":"2026-10-22T15:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:10:59","slug":"former-mass-effect-5-writers-speak-out-after-ea-shuts-down-bioware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=94883","title":{"rendered":"Former Mass Effect 5 Writers Speak Out After EA Shuts Down BioWare"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Former writers for the now-canceled Mass Effect 5 are speaking out on social media following news that BioWare, a beloved studio with more than 30 years of games under its belt, was shuttered by EA earlier today.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">EA announced the news somewhat unceremoniously in a single paragraph tucked within a lengthy open letter on October 21, 2026. \u201cAs we focus on these larger opportunities, we&#8217;ve had a small team at BioWare working on early-development for Mass Effect. We&#8217;ve made the decision not to move forward with this development, which means we\u2019re closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace. BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">It\u2019s safe to say that gamers were gutted by this announcement \u2014 as were the staff impacted by the closure, as we\u2019ve now seen several writers who worked on Mass Effect 5 begin to discuss the situation online. <\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-slideshow\"><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">11 Mass Effect Characters and Moments the TV Show Needs to Be a Hit<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img alt=\"It\u2019s official: A Mass Effect show is in the works at Amazon\u2019s Prime Video. Although it hasn\u2019t been said outright, the show will most likely be an adaptation of Commander Shepard\u2019s story from the original trilogy due to that saga\u2019s popularity with fans. A television series is the most appropriate format for adapting the award-winning game franchise into another medium, opposed to say a feature film, since Mass Effect is an extension of many of the space opera narrative conventions popularized by perennial sci-fi TV juggernaut Star Trek, and also because the many episodes\/seasons a TV show affords will allow the creators to use far more of the series\u2019 wide array of fan-favorite characters.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&#10;&#10;The characters are why Mass Effect fans love the series so much and what will help the franchise connect with a new audience. Now that we know we\u2019re getting a show, let\u2019s take a look at the Mass Effect trilogy\u2019s best characters and moments that the show should adapt. (And obviously we're not including main character Commander Shepard on this list as their inclusion goes without saying!)&#10;\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/output><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">On Twitter\/X, New York Times bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente responded to a post wherein a user said, \u201cA game industry that cannot figure out how to make a sequel to the literal best game of all time is a game industry that is fundamentally broken,\u201d speaking on the BioWare closure.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cWe did figure it out. We were working on a great game. Just saying,\u201d Valente <u>retorted<\/u>. In response to a different commenter, she <u>revealed<\/u> that she hadn\u2019t contributed to Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Mass Effect: Andromeda, or Anthem, clarifying that she is \u201cnot, in fact, the personification of BioWare.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Award-winning science fiction writer Derek K\u00fcnsken also published a <u>lengthy thread<\/u> discussing his time working on Mass Effect 5 \u2014 a game that, most likely, we\u2019ll never get to see. K\u00fcnsken said he\u2019d been contributing to the title \u201con and off\u201d over the last five years, and said he\u2019s only now allowed to speak about it given that the company behind the project is now nonexistent.<\/p>\n<p><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"article-video\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cOver the coming weeks, I&#8217;ll get more clarity on what I can say about what I did and saw and learned. I hope it&#8217;s more than nothing \u2014 what we were cooking was really cool,\u201d he said. He went on to reveal that he\u2019d worked with Valente on pitching \u201cstory, character, lore, and sci-fi wonder for this next chapter of the Mass Effect world,\u201d calling it \u201cthe most energizing, in-the-zone collaboration I&#8217;ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">For now, fans are left wondering what could have been, while equally hopeful that somehow, some way, EA might sell off BioWare\u2019s IPs to another studio rather than letting them languish. Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah is expressing some caution around this particular idea, though he did theorize that it\u2019sa bit more likely now, given that EA is possibly looking to offset its massive debt incurred by its eye-watering $55 billion acquisition to a private investment group earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Oh well; at least we have the Prime Video series to look forward to, which was revealed to still be in active development in an exclusive statement to IGN.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"poll-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"\/><\/span><output class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" data-cy=\"author-sign-off\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"author-sign-off\" data-cy=\"author-sign-off\"><span class=\"stack jsx-59817748 jsx-1927875859\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"rounded jsx-444076027 jsx-1730475047 profile-thumb jsx-2141281959 aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-1-1\"><img alt=\"Virginia Glaze Avatar\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image profile-thumb-img jsx-249361588 jsx-2338608387 expand\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/avatars\/6a3973ecf71dd1001d20de39\/XD1zX2FT-1782150223173.jpg?crop=1%3A1&amp;width=56&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=80 1x, https:\/\/assets-prd.ignimgs.com\/avatars\/6a3973ecf71dd1001d20de39\/XD1zX2FT-1782150223173.jpg?crop=1%3A1&amp;width=56&amp;dpr=2&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=80 2x\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-3630940851\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 sign-off-text\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Virginia (she\/her) is IGN\u2019s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she\u2019s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at <\/em><em>@TheeMissGlaze<\/em><em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/section>\n<p><\/output><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/we-were-working-on-a-great-game-former-mass-effect-5-writers-speak-out-after-ea-shuts-down-bioware\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><br \/>\n<center><script>\n  atOptions = {\n    'key' : 'ab8cc34fbebd96e6c135978b4baca540',\n    'format' : 'iframe',\n    'height' : 90,\n    'width' : 728,\n    'params' : {}\n  };\n<\/script><br \/>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highrevenueformat.com\/ab8cc34fbebd96e6c135978b4baca540\/invoke.js\"><\/script><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former writers for the now-canceled Mass Effect 5 are speaking out on social media following news that BioWare, a beloved studio with more than 30&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[15697,8143,291,552,6756,8971],"class_list":["post-94883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-bioware","tag-effect","tag-mass","tag-shuts","tag-speak","tag-writers","wpcat-32-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}