BioWare faces uncertain future after $55B 'pro-sports' Saudi investment in EA

A seismic change in the gaming industry is about to happen, as Electronic Arts announced on September 29, 2025, that it has agreed to a $55 billion private deal led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund PIF, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, with shareholders expected to receive $210 per share in cash.

This transaction also includes $20 billion in debt financing and PIF rolling over its existing 9.9% stake in EA, making this the largest buyout in gaming history. This buyout has stirred up speculation about the future of EA’s studios, especially BioWare, the developer behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

As the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, many industry veterans and employees are voicing deep concerns over potential layoffs and outright closures, including former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah.

Darrah spearheaded Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age II, and Dragon Age: Inquisition as a project director and executive producer has commented on the matter in a recent YouTube video. 

Darrah mentioned that the influx of new ownership, particularly PIF’s involvement, could cause “changes at EA in terms of structure, in terms of games that they’re making. He pointed out that PIF’s prior investments pivoted toward sports, noting:

“When you look at the investments that the Saudi group has been making before now, they’ve been buying a lot of sports-related things. EA Sports makes a ton of sense, fitting into that portfolio of investing in a lot of sports franchises.”

He pointed out that “75% of EA’s money last year was made through live services, and a ton of that was the Ultimate Teams from FIFA (now known as EA Sports FC) – of Football Club – and Madden.”

However, for BioWare, the outlook seems far hazier amid the deal’s broader portfolio restructuring. Darrah suggests that studios like BioWare, alongside those developing Marvel titles that have underperformed, might face scrutiny. 

He further added, “EA also has studios that haven’t shipped anything in a while, or have shipped things that didn’t do very well,” putting BioWare in a concerning position. BioWare has long been synonymous with “very progressive messaging” in its narrative-driven RPGs, discussing diversity, LGBTQ+ representation, and social justice like Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Under PIF’s influence, he believes things could prove disastrous, “It’s hard to imagine that you have BioWare pivot from having very progressive messaging to having the reverse because it’s what the government wants. It’s hard to imagine that the public perception of a game that comes out of BioWare, even if you do do that, isn’t apocalyptically bad.”

These views have been mirrored by current BioWare staff, who spoke anonymously to Insider Gaming, describing the dread of impending layoffs, “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.”

Another BioWare lead writer, in an interview with PC Gamer, speculated that under Saudi-led ownership, “guns and football are in, ‘gay stuff’ is out.”

For a studio that was once critically acclaimed for innovative storytelling, the $55 billion deal seems like a dark cloud looming over BioWare’s future.