Bioware is dead. EA shuts down dev.

R

Ranulfo

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Feb 9, 2006
Messages
5,882
It finally happened. EA is shutting down Bioware.

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/rip-bioware-ea-has-shut-down-the-legendary-rpg-developer/

https://x.com/bioware/status/2112953618093535510

Screenshot 2026-10-21 at 10-55-55 RIP BioWare EA has shut down the legendary RPG developer PC ...png
 
I wanted to like ME, but I couldn't get into the universe. It seemed well made though.

Swtor still breathing is astounding to me. I played the heck out of it for years at launch, but it became a grind and free to play turned it into pay to win. Went back once or twice in the last 10 years, but meh. I would have rather gotten another kotor.
 
Andromeda, Anthem and Veilguard. I guess three strikes and you're out?

Veilguard came out 2 years ago. I'm curious what Bioware was working on right up until they got canned.

Remember that new Mass Effect teaser a while back? I guess it was that. Oh, well.
 
Absalom said:
Andromeda, Anthem and Veilguard. I guess three strikes and you're out?

Veilguard came out 2 years ago. I'm curious what Bioware was working on right up until they got canned.
Click to expand...

Mass Effect, says in the article the game is cancelled. Probably would not have been good but there was always hope there might be a decent Mass Effect game. I suppose there can still be if a better studio gets ahold of the IP, but I think Mass Effect is dead.
 
Flogger23m said:
Mass Effect, says in the article the game is cancelled. Probably would not have been good but there was always hope there might be a decent Mass Effect game. I suppose there can still be if a better studio gets ahold of the IP, but I think Mass Effect is dead.
Click to expand...
Yep. EA still owns the Mass Effect IP, so I guess it's up to them to decide what to do with it. Theoretically they could hand it over to some smaller studio, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
 
Shame, but BioWare has been a shambling corpse for a long time now. I'm sure EA and their investors are going to have a death grip on the IP, though. Just sit on it and do nothing until law requires them to lest they let it slip out of their hands.
 
Armenius said:
I'm sure EA and their investors are going to have a death grip on the IP, though. Just sit on it and do nothing until law requires them to lest they let it slip out of their hands.
Click to expand...
That a bit of a strange take.

State will never care about IP in that sense, the 75 years is already in place, there is zero societal-public good reason to care about any of this particularly like a new more efficiant refrigeration system, the law will not force George R.R. Martin to ever finish game of thrones or he loose the IP...

Copyrights is quite different than patent, there is no use it or loose it when it come to copyrights doctrine (or any reason for such idea), the absence of any new Mass Effect entry as zero cost to society.

And why would EA not exploit those IPs almost exactly the same way they woulld have green light or not project at bioware before, they already shift Star wars old republic to an other studio (Broadsword), they could do the same with any others.
 
This was expected and long time coming, but it still hurts real bad...

peppergomez said:
How the mighty have fallen, etc
Wonder if this is an example of go woke, go broke
Click to expand...

Partly that, part mother company (EA) meddling in things in a way that is stupid and suicidial. Bioware was good at RPGs but EA wanted something else and the rest is history.
 
Absalom said:
Yep. EA still owns the Mass Effect IP, so I guess it's up to them to decide what to do with it. Theoretically they could hand it over to some smaller studio, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
Click to expand...

Depending how Exodus turns out, I wouldn't mind seeing Archetype take a crack at a new Mass Effect.
 
LukeTbk said:
That a bit of a strange take.

State will never care about IP in that sense, the 75 years is already in place, there is zero societal-public good reason to care about any of this particularly like a new more efficiant refrigeration system, the law will not force George R.R. Martin to ever finish game of thrones or he loose the IP...

Copyrights is quite different than patent, there is no use it or loose it when it come to copyrights doctrine (or any reason for such idea), the absence of any new Mass Effect entry as zero cost to society.

And why would EA not exploit those IPs almost exactly the same way they woulld have green light or not project at bioware before, they already shift Star wars old republic to an other studio (Broadsword), they could do the same with any others.
Click to expand...
The trademark associated with the IP will be considered abandoned if it is not used in commerce after a period of time (3 years in the US). Trademark covers software/video games made using the IP. So if it is legally considered abandoned, somebody else can claim it by filling a new trademark application and produce and sell their own games.
 
Armenius said:
The trademark associated with the IP will be considered abandoned if it is not used in commerce after a period of time (3 years in the US). Trademark covers software/video games made using the IP. So if it is legally considered abandoned, somebody else can claim it by filling a new trademark application and produce and sell their own games.
Click to expand...

It's not like they're going to stop selling the games. I'm sure that still counts as "used in commerce".
 
LukeTbk said:
That a bit of a strange take.

State will never care about IP in that sense, the 75 years is already in place, there is zero societal-public good reason to care about any of this particularly like a new more efficiant refrigeration system, the law will not force George R.R. Martin to ever finish game of thrones or he loose the IP...

Copyrights is quite different than patent, there is no use it or loose it when it come to copyrights doctrine (or any reason for such idea), the absence of any new Mass Effect entry as zero cost to society.

And why would EA not exploit those IPs almost exactly the same way they woulld have green light or not project at bioware before, they already shift Star wars old republic to an other studio (Broadsword), they could do the same with any others.
Click to expand...
75 years? Richard Garriot just got the Ultima IP back from EA after 35 years. That's the U.S. Copyright Act in full effect.

EA bought Bioware in 2007, so we've got until 2042 until either BIoware founder steps up and claims it.

Admittedly, Mass Effect came out in 2007 as well and I have no idea if Bioware originally copyrighted it before handing things over.
 
Armenius said:
The trademark associated with the IP will be considered abandoned if it is not used in commerce after a period of time (3 years in the US). Trademark covers software/video games made using the IP. So if it is legally considered abandoned, somebody else can claim it by filling a new trademark application and produce and sell their own games.
Click to expand...
You can use the trademark but not the copyrigthed affair which would be many surrounding an IP. Trademark that really limited, logo-symbols-catch phrase related to the game.

Copyright cover the games itself, the characther, world, storylines, arts, that copyrighted by default with the 75 years after death of the author.

And the company will not abandon the trademark, they will renew it and use it for people that buy the game on GoG or elsewhere forever, even if they do not make new entry, used in commerce is only what needed, not some creative force. Maintening and trademark renewal is extremelly and easy for a big company (even for a small one, when we do it, not that big of a deal in most market, you have big region deal has well via international treaties to do it once for most places)

If there is no new starcraft games for 3, 10, 15 years, that does not mean the law had forced them to sales the right to someone else to make starcraft 3 or loose it.

Absalom said:
Richard Garriot just got the Ultima IP back from EA after 35 years
Click to expand...
that a very specific rules for the author itself, they can get it back 35 years instead of 75 (95 now?), but that unrelated to use and do not push it to the public domain. This would not apply for a company made IP sold between company, George Lucas (or Lucas art) will never get Star wars back from Disney and usage or not will not be a variable.

Mass effect was a work made by paid worker, from a company, section 203 do not apply to them. Garriot created ultima before Origin system and was the owner of the IP not Origin, think JK rowling with Potter vs Lucas with LucasFilm.
 
Flogger23m said:
Mass Effect, says in the article the game is cancelled. Probably would not have been good but there was always hope there might be a decent Mass Effect game. I suppose there can still be if a better studio gets ahold of the IP, but I think Mass Effect is dead.
Click to expand...
Isn't there a live action TV series in production? Or is that cancelled too? Not that I have any hope of it being good, since it is produced by amazon, who thinks IP stands for I Piss on it.
 
LukeTbk said:
that a very specific rules for the author itself, they can get it back 35 years instead of 75 (95 now?), but that unrelated to use and do not push it to the public domain. This would not apply for a company made IP sold between company, George Lucas (or Lucas art) will never get Star wars back from Disney and usage or not will not be a variable.

Mass effect was a work made by paid worker, from a company, section 203 do not apply to them. Garriot created ultima before Origin system and was the owner of the IP not Origin, think JK rowling with Potter vs Lucas with LucasFilm.
Click to expand...
Ultima came out in 1981. Garriott and his brother founded Origin in 1983. EA bought Origin in 1992. The 35 years applies to the EA timeline. Origin is what EA bought. The IP transferred through the purchase of Origin. The copyrights were not purchased unlike what Lucas did with Star Wars and Disney. Disney purchase of Star Wars IP is a very specific legal handover of an IP, not just the Lucas owned studio or business. In the case of Origin/Garriot, the Ultima IP was transferred but the copyright itself remained in Garriott's name.

So, if the co-founders of Bioware are named in the copyright for Mass Effect, then after 35 years they can indeed take it back per section 203. It all really comes down to that. EA doesn't just keep the Mass Effect IP forever (75, 95 or whatever) unless the copyright itself was also sold during the purchase of Bioware in 2007, which is up for debate.

I'm not bringing trademark into this side discussion because as we know, trademarks work differently. And "Mass Effect" in 2042 would still be the trademark of EA despite any of this.

Edit: To put this to rest, I'm fairly certain EA copyrighted Mass Effect in 2007/2008. Perusing the public record system strongly hints this. So, any notion of Bioware founders copyrighting the Mass Effect IP is pretty much fantasy at this point. It was a nice thought exercise.
 
Last edited:
It is what it is, I guess. Their best stuff was in the distant past. They had a resurgence with Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but they were mostly good ideas/worlds with clumsy games set in them. Well, than and EA made them do dumb things. More recently they seem to finally nail the gameplay elements in Andromeda and Veilguard...if only the writing wasn't absolutely horrendous. Anthem was Anthem. The flying was neat, I guess. Ah well, whatever. Maybe someone will do something with those IPs down the line. If not, most of them were pretty flawed minus Baldur's Gate and KOTOR.
 
I think Domingo hit the nail squarely on the head.

Bioware did make some really good stuff for quite a while.

The first game I ever played of theirs was Neverwinter Nights, and I remember having thousands of hours of entertainment after buying the "Diamond Edition" DVD that had all of the expansion packs and several premium modules.

KOTOR was the game that revived my interest in the world of Star Wars, and while I did enjoy KOTOR 2, the sheer amount of cut content, bugs, etc. made it something I played through about 4 times, and then never touched again.

Neverwinter Nights 2 and the expansions were also entertaining, but didn't quite have the same vast thrill.

I really thought that Bioware would start its freefall around that time, until SWTOR came around, and I still play it to this date, just not quite as much as I used to. Since EA completely took over ownership of this, I'm not worried in the least. Broadsword Online is the company doing the development.
 
M76 said:
Isn't there a live action TV series in production? Or is that cancelled too? Not that I have any hope of it being good, since it is produced by amazon, who thinks IP stands for I Piss on it.
Click to expand...

It was rumored Henry Cavil would be in it, and he is a big fan of that and the Witcher. Not that it helped the Witcher TV series. I would have more hope if he was in it because he wanted the Witcher to follow the books more but the writers hated the source material. In the end they clearly won and he left and was replaced.

Quick google search says yes for Amazon, but I have the same fears as you. I assume these people will hate the source material or at the minimum be very incompetent.
 
Last edited:
no surprise.
"beloved" studios are only the name now, all the og crews are long gone and they are now infested with tards.
 
pendragon1 said:
no surprise.
"beloved" studios are only the name now, all the og crews are long gone and they are now infested with tards.
Click to expand...
Few are left. Remedy is still producing outstanding games that are pretty original and also have their own tech, they’ve largely been safe because they’ve managed to stay independent. You’ve also got larian that is in a great position.

Basically, any development studio that has managed to stay independent of the big publishers is going to be safe from this ongoing crash because they are putting out quality games and don’t have to worry about public shareholders.
 
peppergomez said:
It makes you wonder how AAA will even survive if the newer generation of dev teams are pumping out garbage for "modern" audiences that like 90% of the rest of gamers reject
Click to expand...
We’re just going through a huge contraction, but see my prior post. There will be some few surviving developers that didn’t sell out.
 
Mchart said:
Few are left. Remedy is still producing outstanding games that are pretty original and also have their own tech, they’ve largely been safe because they’ve managed to stay independent. You’ve also got larian that is in a great position.

Basically, any development studio that has managed to stay independent of the big publishers is going to be safe from this ongoing crash because they are putting out quality games and don’t have to worry about public shareholders.
Click to expand...
Remedy did a fantastic job with Atomfall
Anyone who likes original fresh ideas in a solid first person shooter/lite RPG and exploration game needs to play this
 
Not gonna lie, it feels like a death in the family of a beloved uncle who went senile and crazier over the years.

The day I bought my first PC (with my own money) as a young adult in 1998, I bought Baldur's Gate with it. That game is still in my top 5. Baldur's Gate 2 is probably my GOAT, as I've said before.

KotoR was really good, and I got a lot of fun out of Neverwinter Nights.

Those who built the company were among the best of their time, but replace enough parts over the years and Theseus had a new ship that doesn't resemble the original.

I haven't bought any of their games since DA:Origins, so I guess my support waned over time.
 
Flogger23m said:
Quick google search says yes for Amazon, but I have the same fears as you. I assume these people will hate the source material or at the minimum be very incompetent.
Click to expand...
Filmmakers think videogames are beneath them, they view it as a lower form of media, so the biggest thing preventing a faithful adoption is their pride. How many times have seen writers, directors and actors proudly declare that they never played the games they are adopting and have no intention to even after getting the job.The only way to make a faithful screen adoption is if the game developer is involved, like CDPR is with Edgerunners.
 
M76 said:
Isn't there a live action TV series in production? Or is that cancelled too? Not that I have any hope of it being good, since it is produced by amazon, who thinks IP stands for I Piss on it.
Click to expand...

there's a live action TV adaptation of Tomb Raider, Mass Effect and Warhammer in development (all at Amazon)...the Warhammer one is the series with Henry Cavill
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top