Electronic Arts is under new ownership and that might be bad news for Mass Effect fans. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, and the investment firm Silver Lake recently acquired EA for $55 billion. Current and former EA employees aren’t exactly optimistic about what this means for the future of the company, particularly when it comes to some of its most beloved series like Mass Effect.
Emmanuel Rosier, director of marketing intelligence at game industry analyst Newzoo and a former senior manager at EA, implied in an interview with PC Gamer that the future of the Mass Effect series is in doubt.
Rosier outlined EA’s likely trajectory under the PIF, emphasizing that the company will double down on sports games and esports. Outside of these games, Rosier said, “In the middle you have these IPs like the BioWare IPs. They’ve been struggling as a studio, as a brand have been struggling in recent years, and I don’t know if they will keep funding that one. I think that’s the biggest question mark for me.”
In response to the interviewer’s optimism that EA wouldn’t abruptly pull the plug on Mass Effect, Rosier said, “I will believe it when I see it, the next Mass Effect game, let’s put it that way. I’ve worked many years with BioWare, sometimes it can stretch for years and years until something comes.” Rosier was a senior franchise demand planning manager at EA. “I think everything can happen at this moment. They can pull the plug very, very easily. And if the new investor, they don’t have that many feelings about the history of the portfolio, they will take the most financially sound decision most probably.”
Last November, BioWare gave an update on its new Mass Effect game, saying, “Let’s start by setting the record straight: the next Mass Effect game is in development, and EA and BioWare remain committed to telling more stories in this universe.” It has been more than nine years since Mass Effect: Andromeda soured many on the legendary sci-fi series, which began in 2007 with the original Mass Effect.
It isn’t just Mass Effect fans who are likely unhappy with PIF’s acquisition of EA, and many current employees have criticized the new ownership. In an interview with Game Developer, one worker at the company said, “If EA had a culture that had any semblance of a moral backbone, it wouldn’t get into bed with a prince who’s disgusted by many of its current employees’ sexualities and ethnicities. Then you have Jared Kushner in this disgusting business stew, which just adds insult to injury. I feel gross just thinking about it, but there’s nowhere else to go. I’d love to leave, but the jobs aren’t there, and I have bills to pay.” Another worker told Game File that EA president Andrew Wilson “basically said ‘f you’ to all women and LGBTQ employees at EA with this deal.”
The Saudi Arabian government, which owns the PIF, has been accused of investing in the game industry as a form of “sportswashing,” using associations with entertainment to distract from human-rights violations. The country and its de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, have been accused of enabling exploitation of migrant laborers, enforcing anti-LGBTQ laws, and committing violence against political opponents, such as the alleged murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
