Mass Effect studio employees fear the worst after EA buyout by Saudi Arabia

Employees at BioWare have expressed their concern around the buyout at EA, as uncertainty grows around the future of Mass Effect.

There are a lot of unknowns following the $55 billion acquisition of EA, but one of the key concerns is how it will impact developers under the company’s umbrella, given the publisher has suddenly saddled itself with $20 billion of debt.

As announced on Monday, EA is set to be acquired by a consortium of investors comprised of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), private equity firm Silver Lake, and investment firm Affinity Partners, in what’s described as the biggest leveraged buyout in history.

While it’s unclear whether this will affect the studios behind EA Sports FC and Battlefield 6 in any significant way, one developer who has expressed concern is BioWare, creators of Mass Effect and, more recently, Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

BioWare was hit by layoffs earlier this year, after Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet sales expectations, and following news of this buyout there’s concern more could be on the way once the deal goes through.

Speaking to Insider Gaming, one anonymous source at the studio said: ‘Look at the negativity that came after Dragon Age. If we felt it was only going to get worse then, you can imagine what some of us think now.’

Other employees have noted how they’ve put ‘feelers out for other jobs’ because it ‘feels like a matter of time’ before the studio is impacted once again.

The studio is currently developing the next Mass Effect game, which has already had an extremely troubled development, with these new fears only adding to the atmosphere of uncertainty.

According to the report, only a small team was actively working on the sequel at the start of this year, but this had started to increase recently. ‘We’re going to keep working until they tell us we’re done,’ one BioWare employee added.

The acquisition isn’t expected to be finalised until Q1 of the 2027 financial year, so we likely won’t see any significant shake-ups until after April 2026.

Amid all this uncertainty, a lifeline for the future of Mass Effect might be the confirmed TV adaptation underway at Amazon.

Filming on the series is set to begin at the end of 2026, as confirmed by a recent production update, but its existence (if it isn’t shelved before then) might ensure another game will remain in the pipeline.

Although it’d hardly be the first TV adaptation to be based on a video game franchise that hasn’t had a new entry in years.

Several other employees have spoken out about the buyout. Speaking to Game File, one anonymous EA worker, highlighting the connections to Saudi Arabia: ‘Andrew Wilson [CEO at EA] basically said ‘f you’ to all women and LGBTQ employees at EA with this deal.’

Another added: ‘I’m nervous about what this means in terms of workforce once the deal is closed, as layoffs usually follow those type of acquisitions. And on a personal level, those future owners are really not in line with my values and beliefs.’

Saudi Arabia has increased its investment into the gaming space over the past few years. Earlier this year, the PIF, controlled by the country’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman, acquired Pokémon Go developer Niantic.

The country also hosts the Esports World Cup, as part of its growing investment into the esports space.

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