Recently, we saw the completion of the largest private equity buyout in history take place, as a consortium led by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, alongside Affinity Partners and Silver Lake, bought EA. The future of the gaming giant is very much up in the air right now, with few certainties in place. Something that fans are very fearful for is the next Mass Effect game, which even former EA manager Emmanuel Rosier thinks isn't a certainty.
"I think everything is open at this point. I suspect that sports will remain the key focus for EA, particularly European football, soccer, because of the importance of that sport in Saudi and in Middle East territories. You see a lot of synergies in that context. You can also expect that they will push even more for esports, also given the popularity of esports in Saudi and in some other territories. The question mark is probably the second-tier or third-tier IP in the portfolio of EA," Rosier told PC Gamer in a recent interview.
For smaller IPs that EA owns, such as Ultima and Wing Commander, Rosier could see them being leveraged by other studios for a fee, or being capitalised on in smaller projects. "Maybe mobile games," he says.
The biggest issue will come when the new owners are looking at more mid-sized IPs. Rosier specifically mentions BioWare and its franchises. "They've been struggling as a studio, as a brand have been struggling in recent years, and I don't know if they will keep funding that one. I think that's the biggest question mark for me."
It's unfortunate that BioWare's last game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard flopped in the eyes of EA. Dragon Age has never been as popular as Mass Effect, but we might not get time to see what the return of BioWare's space opera looks like, as Rosier believes the plug can be pulled "very, very easily." If the new owners don't know or care to know about Mass Effect, then they probably won't want to fund the project for years until we see the new game.
