BioWare Co-Founder Puts a Price on Saving Mass Effect: Over $200 Million
Trent Oster, co-founder of BioWare, said on November 6 that developing a new Mass Effect would require more than 200 million dollars, roughly 32 billion yen at current rates.
1 source 54m ago
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Why it matters
Oster's estimate gives the #SaveMassEffect petition a hard number to argue against, and his own answer, that a disciplined experienced team could do it cheaper, is the only path he names that does not depend on EA selling the license.
Key Facts
- Trent Oster, co-founder of BioWare, said on November 6 that a new Mass Effect would need more than 200 million dollars, roughly 32 billion yen.
- EA announced BioWare's closure on October 22 and canceled development of the in-progress Mass Effect game.
- The #SaveMassEffect petition has gathered more than 300,000 signatures.
- Romain Toutain, a franchise technical director on Mass Effect at BioWare, said EA will not sell anything and will keep holding the license.
- Oster said Mass Effect could be made cheaper if an experienced team takes a disciplined approach.
EA announced BioWare's closure on October 22 and canceled the in-progress Mass Effect game. A #SaveMassEffect petition has gathered more than 300,000 signatures, and its organizer has floated licensing the IP to another studio as an alternative.
Oster's figure is a rough estimate drawn from recent titles, not a budget. He framed the risk in terms of audience expectation: players want the best AAA, and meeting that bar is what makes the upfront cost frightening. His cheaper alternative is a disciplined, experienced team, which shifts the question from whether EA will sell to whether anyone can build the game at a lower number.
Others who worked on the series are less hopeful about a sale. Romain Toutain, a franchise technical director on Mass Effect at BioWare, said EA will not sell anything and will keep holding the license. Mark Darrah, a former executive producer, said in 2025, before the closure decision, that EA is incentivized not to take risks and is therefore reluctant to sell IP, though he said incentives could change if EA's structure changes.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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