'We Had It Figured Out': Ex-Mass Effect 5 Writers React to EA Closing BioWare

Former writers of the canceled Mass Effect 5 are speaking out on social media after EA shut down BioWare, the legendary studio behind over 30 years of games, earlier today.

EA broke the news quietly in a single paragraph within a lengthy open letter on October 21, 2026. "As we focus on these larger opportunities, we've had a small team at BioWare working on early-development for Mass Effect. We've made the decision not to move forward with this development, which means we're closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace. BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly," the statement read.

Fans were devastated by the announcement, and the affected staff are now beginning to discuss the situation online.

On Twitter/X, New York Times bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente responded to a post that said, "A game industry that cannot figure out how to make a sequel to the literal best game of all time is a game industry that is fundamentally broken," in light of the BioWare closure.

"We did figure it out. We were working on a great game. Just saying," Valente retorted. In response to another commenter, she clarified that she hadn't worked on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Mass Effect: Andromeda, or Anthem, and that she is "not, in fact, the personification of BioWare."

Award-winning science fiction writer Derek Künsken also shared a lengthy thread about his time on Mass Effect 5 — a game we'll likely never see. Künsken said he'd been contributing "on and off" over the last five years and that he's only now allowed to speak about it since the company behind the project no longer exists.

"Over the coming weeks, I'll get more clarity on what I can say about what I did and saw and learned. I hope it's more than nothing — what we were cooking was really cool," he said. He also revealed that he'd worked with Valente on pitching "story, character, lore, and sci-fi wonder for this next chapter of the Mass Effect world," calling it "the most energizing, in-the-zone collaboration I've ever had."

For now, fans are left wondering what could have been, while holding out hope that EA might sell BioWare's IPs to another studio rather than let them languish. Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah expressed some caution about that idea, though he theorized it's a bit more likely now, given that EA may be looking to offset its massive debt from its eye-watering $55 billion acquisition by a private investment group earlier this year.

At least we have the Prime Video series to look forward to, which was confirmed to still be in active development in an exclusive statement to IGN.