BioWare parent company EA was acquired by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund plus private equity firms Silver Lake and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners in a $55 billion deal this month, which is indicative of the world we live in. Fans are understandably concerned that the Dragon Age and Mass Effect studio will get cut and have its organs sold if its new overlords decide they only care about EA's biggest franchises, but former BioWare executive Mark Darrah thinks the company can make it out alive.
The developer discusses the topic in a new YouTube video; in the comments, he replied to a fan hoping for "Bioware and its staff to survive this," saying, "I do too. There are several ways that happens." But if BioWare survives, it won't be without sacrifice. So prepare those organ donation bins.
In one potential scenario, according to Darrah, EA sells BioWare along with its IP, back catalog, and possibly even access to its proprietary Frostbite engine. Darrah says, "Certainly, if I was buying BioWare, I would want everything. I would want the entire back catalog. I would want all the tech. I would want unlimited rights to use the tech that's still owned by EA, so that I could do remasters and remakes."
But Darrah wonders who, at this point in video game history and the layoffs Armageddon, would even want to purchase an entire company. Instead, Darrah pictures EA bundling poorly performing IP and auctioning them off at a discount, getting bored and leaving BioWare alone, or selling BioWare IP individually, like slices of pizza. Though, "I don't know who's looking to buy IPs right now. Again, money's really tight."
So, uh, does Darrah really think BioWare has a chance? Kind of. It seems to depend on how good EA and its new owners want to look. Darrah suggests BioWare could even end up independent if EA decides to relinquish it for "entirely" PR reasons, or BioWare could be protected by an imaginary "son-in-law of a Saudi prince who really loves Mass Effect." Hey, you never know.
But "chances are, if [EA's new owners are] coming in, and they're very involved, they're going to do a lot of damage," says Darrah. OK. Perhaps there's no hope after all.
