Update: New details have come to light since this article was published, so it has been updated accordingly.
Full story follows: Following the closure of BioWare and cancellation of Mass Effect 5 after the EA buyout, the RPG that never came to be has been heavy on fans' minds – and former developers' own, too.
Behind the scenes, though, things with the next Mass Effect were on shaky ground for some time, reportedly, as the massive $55 billion EA buyout by Saudi Arabia's private investment fund, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, and private equity fund Silver Lake fell into place.
The acquisition allegedly spurred various changes in BioWare devs' plans, especially in how potentially sensitive topics were handled.
For example, BioWare's inclusivity – something the studio has been well known for since its early RPGs, from the original Dragon Age to Mass Effect – and its outspoken support for marginalized communities.
An unnamed dev who was working on Mass Effect: Universe, as the in-progress fifth entry was titled, explains as much in a statement to BFM (as translated from French by GamesRadar+ and machine using both DeepL and Google).
"I think the video proposals we presented to the new management weren't convincing," he alleges. "Especially since BioWare is known for its inclusive stories, which didn't help dispel the skepticism."
This "skepticism," as the dev goes on to describe, supposedly led the team to remove a flag "too similar to the LGBTQIA+ flag" from one of the presented videos, "so as not to cause offense" with its inclusion.
Speaking to Kotaku following the story's publication, the journalist clarifies that the move was reportedly "in anticipation of potential negative feedback" from EA. Additionally, "contrary to what is being said about this on social media, [the decision to remove the flag] was not [made] out of a desire to hide inclusive elements, but rather to anticipate negative feedback from conservative executives."
Regardless, it's a difficult thought to stomach, especially when, as the anonymous dev puts it, you consider BioWare's history as a strong supporter of folks whose voices aren't as well heard by the public, but it's sadly not all that surprising.
I'm instantly reminded of The Sims series myself, and how covers had to be changed for Saudi Arabian audiences so as to not include any LGBTQIA+ representation.
People were worrying about what the buyout might mean in that sense while it was underway, too, with EA staff sharing how they feared the new Saudi Arabian owners would police their games and how "projects just won't get signed because they don't align explicitly with what the Saudi government wants."
None of the process has been easy or simple, to say the least, and the future remains uncertain.
Here's hoping that everyone from BioWare is able to land on their feet following the studio's closure – and that somehow, some way, the Save Mass Effect movement results in change.
