Mass Effect Erasure From EA Is Already Starting, & It’s In A Place You Might Not Expect
The biggest news in gaming this week is undoubtedly the closing of studio BioWare, and the cancellation of the next title in the Mass Effect series. Publisher Electronic Arts (EA) closed the studio as internal productions on the rumored Mass Effect Universe were reaching a point where the game could be shared publicly, locking away any chance of the beloved sci-fi RPG franchise’s revival following the mixed Mass Effect: Andromeda. However, EA has taken things a step further against Mass Effect beyond just laying off 400 of BioWare’s staff, beginning the process to remove the series’ presence from any of their other games too.
The closure of BioWare happened only two months after EA finalized their $55 billion buyout to the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), indicating the publisher’s new direction after the merger. Many other internal studios within the company, such as DICE or Respawn Entertainment, could be the next gaming divisions impacted similarly to BioWare, perhaps with layoffs rather than a complete shutdown. Only two days after BioWare closed its doors and Mass Effect‘s future was shuttered, EA has been making changes in those related gaming departments already, removing BioWare’s connection to EA as a whole rather rapidly.
EA Removes Crossover Items With Mass Effect From Battlefield 6 Days After Closing Bioware
Only a short time after BioWare announced it was shutting down, DICE quietly removed all the crossover items tied to the Mass Effect series from their most recent title — Battlefield 6. Although that game has gone through its own set of criticisms, there are enough concurrent players to have noticed this change, with the menus of Battlefield 6 suddenly lacking anything tying it to the former EA company’s biggest hit. Among the items removed from the game, players noticed the following Battlefield 6 objects meant to reference Mass Effect were simply gone:
- Player Card Backgrounds
- Weapon Skins
- Unique Mass Effect Charms
- Weapon Stickers
- Sprays
- Solider Patches
This is extra noticeable due to the fact that Mass Effect‘s yearly celebration day, November 7th (N7 Day) was right around the corner. Some Battlefield 6 players were anticipating the Mass Effect items to go on sale in the first-person shooter’s in-game store, or for EA to perhaps announce some news regarding the series’ next project. Instead, the cancellation of Mass Effect Universe (aka Mass Effect 5) also came with DICE separating any connection to the franchise, likely due to orders from EA. Since players have noticed this, neither DICE nor EA has spoken up regarding why this decision has taken place, despite EA still having some control of the Mass Effect IP after BioWare’s closing.
Players are largely upset with the Mass Effect items leaving due to how easy it would be the keep them, as they are largely cosmetic. Battlefield 6 isn’t taking away these items from players who already own them, thankfully, but that could also take place in the near future. At the moment, much like the now dormant Dead Space series also stuck in EA limbo, it seems like Electronic Arts is set to start erasing references to many of BioWare’s IPs, from Mass Effect and Dragon Age to any number of titles in that studio’s past library.
The Speed of Mass Effect Being Removed Reflects How Planned Bioware’s Shutdown Truly Was
To be honest, the erasing of Mass Effect from other games under EA’s umbrella isn’t totally surprising, as BioWare being closed now brings up many copyright questions regarding that studios’ many games. Battlefield 6 taking away crossover items is likely the first step in this process, with any other games EA has published likely going through the same removal process now. Other BioWare series like Dragon Age or Knights of the Old Republic will no longer appear in different games either, outside of EA by those who request any level of cooperation.
However, it’s the speed in which EA took away Mass Effect references from its other games that brings up some concerns. The closure of BioWare was extremely recent, not a month or even a week ago as of this time of writing. This likely means that EA had already put this plan in motion, with perhaps prior knowledge of BioWare’s closure long before it was shared to the masses. This is relatively normal for the internal workings of any gaming company, but not having announcements regarding what Battlefield 6 was doing makes the process seem pretty rushed.
With no grace period to honor BioWare’s contributions to gaming or any acknowledgement of items being removed, EA comes out looking quite callous to many fans. The most common criticisms toward the publisher right now are about how getting rid of content permanently, in any game, is something no one wants to deal with. Unfortunately, Battlefield 6 this is only the beginning of games like BioWare’s Mass Effect being slowly pulled away from modern titles, as EA moves to “align talent and investment where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth,” in their words.
What game featuring Mass Effect crossover content do you think will be affected next? Let us know in the comments below!