So long, and thanks for all the Geth
Hey readers,
Has anyone checked out any game demos from Steam Next Fest? By most accounts, this latest selection is dense with a lot of AI slop. Discoverability of new games, especially indies, continues to be a problem we’ll have to solve somehow.
Let’s jump in with our top story, which is the closure of Mass Effect and Dragon Age studio BioWare. There are also way too many Xbox stories to hit, so I’ll try to sum them all up in one fell swoop.
This issue will fill you in on:
Under new ownership, EA shutters Mass Effect studio BioWare
Image source: EA
The legendary studio behind Knights of the Old Republic is no more
RPG fans are in mourning after Electronic Arts shut down BioWare, the studio that made its name with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur’s Gate, and Neverwinter Nights, before creating well-known franchises Mass Effect and Dragon Age. The last title from the studio is Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and a new Mass Effect game was in the works before the closure. The move is part of EA’s “next chapter,” which included a reported 400 layoffs.
For many observers, the writing was on the wall for quite some time. BioWare had very prolific stumbles with critical duds Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, the latter of which was an attempt at a live-service game like Bungie’s Destiny. It’s said that BioWare was downsized to about 50 employees after The Veilguard underperformed. The studio was founded in 1995 and was purchased by EA in 2007.
Since August, EA has operated as a private company, with its ownership split between Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), private equity firm Silver Lake, and investment firm Affinity Partners, which is owned by Jared Kushner. PIF has a 93.4% stake in EA.
Calling itself the “number one publisher in Western HD gaming,” EA committed to investing further in shooters like Battlefield 6 and Apex Legends, action-adventure games like Respawn’s Jedi games and EA Motive’s upcoming Iron Man game, and sports games (Madden, EA Sports FC, et al.).
How have other parts of EA been affected?
Full Circle, the studio working on the free-to-play Skate reboot, was hit with layoffs, though the game is still an active project for EA. The Sims will continue to live on, but EA appears to be pausing development of a Sims game codenamed “Project Lotus” (ostensibly The Sims 5) while moving forward with something called “Project Evergreen.”
Meanwhile, EA Sports will be working on a “social-first” open-world American football game called “Project Gridiron,” which sounds like something that would have a ton of in-game advertising. EA is also making the unexpected decision to revive the Fight Night boxing franchise.
EA also announced that Battlefield studio DICE and Apex Legends/Titanfall studio Respawn Entertainment are collaborating on a project, and reports point to that game being a new Star Wars Battlefront. It had been rumored last week that Lucasfilm Games was seeking a partner for a Star Wars Battlefront 3, with DICE (which made the last two Battlefront games) emerging as a contender.
What’s next for Mass Effect and BioWare’s other franchises?
Right now, you can consider Mass Effect to be on ice. Ex-BioWare employees have varying opinions on whether EA could or should sell the Mass Effect property to another company. The same can be said for Dragon Age or Jade Empire. An online petition with over 250,000 signatures as of this writing is gaining traction, along with attention from Mass Effect voice actors. (Though what’s the last time you remember an online petition making a massive difference?)
We apparently got a look at what a new Mass Effect game could have looked like, with a trailer for a game called Mass Effect Universe leaking online a day after BioWare’s closure was announced. The cinematic trailer has hints of a spy thriller and features an older Liara, and reports claim that the trailer is authentic.
Since the leak of the unannounced and unreleased Mass Effect Universe, several claims have been made about what this game would have been. A YouTuber who claimed to be part of a “council” of Mass Effect community members said that Universe would have depicted a “galactic Cold War” and that missions would have given “Hitman-style freedom” to players. A former BioWare developer said that Universe would have acknowledged player choices from the original trilogy and “generate” different timelines, and music composer Austin Wintory (Journey, shared over 20 minutes of music that
Strangely enough, the Mass Effect television adaptation for Amazon Prime Video appears to still be in development. The show is said to be set after the original trilogy of games, but the production lacks a release date.
Replay: What else happened?
A screenshot from Final Fantasy Resonance. Image source: Square Enix press kit
Other news hits
Once again, Xbox can’t seem to avoid the headlines (not that it wants to), so here’s a round-up of all of the chaotic Xbox news from the past week, with much of the information coming from a (paywalled) profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma from Fortune:
Reportedly, Xbox wants to release a new Xbox handheld device in holiday 2027, following it with a proper home console (codenamed “Helix”) in holiday 2028. It’s said that the console could be priced between $1,200 and $1,800 if Microsoft decides not to subsidize it.
Coming from the same report is information about a supposed overhaul of Xbox Game Pass, which would let users select and pay for certain features like online multiplayer, cloud gaming, and other add-ons “a la carte.”
Xbox’s “reset” has already manifested in two rounds of layoffs, and the Fortune report claims that three more rounds are approaching in the coming months. In larger Microsoft news, the tech corporation announced a “voluntary exit offer” to 60,000 employees.
After Xbox established a new Chief Operating Officer role, recently minted COO Helen Chiang has already left the position after three months on the job. She was previously the head of the Minecraft franchise and was with Microsoft for 21 years.
Xbox-owned studio Arkane Lyon has been on the bubble after Xbox layoffs and closures, and it’s reported that the studio, which made Dishonored and is currently working on a Blade game for Marvel, has only until November to find a buyer before a potential closure. At least one prolific reporter is optimistic that some sort of deal will go through.
Sucker Punch, the PlayStation studio behind Sly Cooper, Infamous, and both Ghost of Tsushima, has reportedly let go of 24 employees. The studio had just recently released DLC for Ghost of Yotei, which was said to be PlayStation’s top-selling first-party game in 2026.
Remember Pokemon Unite, that free-to-play Pokemon MOBA that came out in 2021? It’s unfortunately shutting down in March 2027, but at least you can still access your records and such, if you care about such a thing.
The file size of Grand Theft Auto 6 is reported to be a whopping 210GB, so clear those SSDs out.
Big new game releases include…
20 years after Wii Sports dominated TVs (breaking many of them), Nintendo Switch Sports Resort (Switch 2) throws back to the simpler times of motion-controlled sports games. A spiritual successor to fan-favorite Wii Sports Resort, the Switch 2 game features the return of archery, table tennis, and more, with new activities like a surprisingly deep thumb-wrestling game. Some reviewers call it the best game in Nintendo’s sports series.
If you yearn for the early days of Final Fantasy, then Final Fantasy Resonance (PC, Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) should scratch that itch. Using Square Enix’s stunning HD-2D visual art style, Resonance is a turn-based JRPG that adapts the 2015 mobile game Brave Exvius and allows players to summon classic Final Fantasy characters like Cloud Strife and Terra. Critics think that the mobile game successfully transitioned into a more traditional JRPG.
Infinity Ward returns to the franchise it created with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (PC, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S), which has a heavy focus on a fictional conflict between North and South Korea. Along with the standard single-player campaign, competitive multiplayer is back in full force, and Call of Duty is toying with the extraction shooter genre yet again with DMZ mode.
That’s it for this week. I’m already making early plans for end-of-the-year coverage, so look out for information on that in the coming weeks. Pretty scary that the year is almost over already, right??
‘Til next time,
Chris Compendio
