Following the closure of BioWare and the cancelation of the in-development Mass Effect project, writers from the studio have taken to social media to address the situation. Among these is sci-fi writer Derek Künsken, who confirmed that he was working on a Mass Effect project and said that he will reveal more about how it was coming along in the coming weeks.
“I can say that everyone I met at BioWare was a decent human being, an expert in their field, and was ambitiously imaginative about what a future experience of BioWare could be. Working closely with Parrish Ley and Mary DeMarie will be highlights of my writing career,” he wrote after mentioning that “what we were cooking was really cool.”
Another one of the writers, Catherynne M. Valente, said that the team had figured out “how to make a sequel to the literal best game of all time”. She went on to note that “We were working on a great game. Just saying.” Künsken himself went on to discuss working with Valente, noting that “Meeting [Valente] and working with her to pitch story and character and lore and sci-fi wonder for this next chapter of the Mass Effect world was the most energizing, in-the-zone collaboration I’ve ever had.”
“There are too many great people to mention right now. All fifty deserve to be lauded and to land safely in new jobs. I hope you support them. I also hope to say more in a few weeks. The emotional dust needs to settle. I need to find out what I can and cannot say. I need to look for a new job in video games – how does LinkedIn even work?? And I’m way behind in promoting my newest novel.”
BioWare announced that it was being shut down earlier this week, and in a blog post, had confirmed that it was also shutting down the early development of the Mass Effect project. Reports since then have indicated that BioWare’s closure was part of a larger round of layoffs across EA affecting around 400 employees.
An internal staff letter by COO David Tinson and chief studios officer Cam Weber mentioned cancelling other in-development projects as well. “Across our portfolio, we’re making deliberate choices to align talent and investment where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth.”
This comes in the wake of EA going completely private as part of an acquisition by an investor consortium made up of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Affinity Partners, and Silver Lake. The deal, valued at $55 billion, involved EA taking on quite a bit of debt as part of its leveraged buyout process. Moving forward, the company is expected to double down on its most profitable ventures, which will likely involve the Battlefield franchise, Apex Legends, and the various yearly sports titles that EA is known for.
The deal was announced all the way back in September 2025 and, following regulatory approvals, was completed this August. The announcement of the deal had already led to uncertainty among workers at BioWare.
