Report: Electronic Arts closed BioWare for Star Wars Battlefront sequel

By Elena Vasquez

Bloomberg reported that Electronic Arts closed BioWare and redirected resources toward an unannounced new Star Wars: Battlefront sequel, as $18 billion in leveraged-buyout debt constrained the publisher's options.

The closure followed EA's cancellation of the in-development Mass Effect: Universe. According to Bloomberg, EA faced a choice between supporting two major science-fiction projects or concentrating money on one. The company did not want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on both.

EA stopped Mass Effect and moved toward Star Wars, which the report described as the less risky and more predictable commercial prospect. EA's new Star Wars project is a multiplayer shooter.

What does this change for studios and teams?

For BioWare, the operational consequence was immediate. EA's cancellation of Mass Effect: Universe left the studio without active projects, according to the report. That gave EA ample reason to close BioWare. Its teams lost an ongoing pipeline while EA redirected development spending toward Star Wars.

For the wider company, the mechanism was capital allocation under debt. EA expected to repay the $18 billion borrowed for its leveraged buyout through operating profits, making the choice between projects part of a direct effort to conserve cash. Bloomberg said EA tried to minimize losses and maximize returns by concentrating resources on the licensed franchise.

The report did not claim Star Wars carried no development risk. It said the franchise offered more predictable returns than Mass Effect. That distinction matters for studios: one portfolio decision can end a team and redirect budgets without removing the pressure that produced the decision.

The reversal inside EA's licensing strategy

The reported Star Wars move came 18 months after EA cancelled an open-world Black Panther game and closed Cliffhanger Games. It came two years after EA announced a strategic shift away from licensed titles, and less than two years after the publisher publicly distanced itself from such releases. The new Battlefront sequel therefore cuts against EA's stated direction.

The shift did not mean EA had abandoned licensed properties. It was still developing an Iron Man game based on Marvel. Bloomberg presents a selective strategy rather than a clean retreat from licensing: EA retained Marvel work and treated Star Wars as a less risky prospect than the cancelled Mass Effect project.

Corporate politics shaped BioWare's position

Corporate politics may also have influenced the outcome, Bloomberg said. EA shuffled its executive ranks and sidelined Laura Miele, the longtime EA Entertainment president. Miele had supported BioWare and Mass Effect in particular. The report points to a weakening of internal sponsorship before EA cancelled the project and closed the studio.

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk told 80.lv in a recent interview: “The other harsh reality of almost all these companies, the people that go down the business track never really come from the development track.”

Zeschuk continued: “Because none of these people have ever made a game, like, never really sat and made one, like, from start to finish, even a small thing, they just don’t know how it works.”

The criticism captures the dispute behind the report. Zeschuk faulted executives without development experience for decisions that removed BioWare's active work and ended the studio. EA, in Bloomberg's account, prioritized debt repayment and lower perceived project risk. Neither account establishes how many people EA will hire for Star Wars or when the game will ship.

The next market signal is the Star Wars project's staffing and production timetable. Those details will show whether the reported pivot is a narrow response to the cost of maintaining both projects or a broader change in how EA allocates development resources.