When BioWare is the topic of conversation right now, pessimism tends to do most of the talking. The studio has shed hundreds of staff over the years and sits at fewer than 100 employees, its entire future riding on an untitled project that most people are calling Mass Effect 5. EA itself has been acquired in a $55 billion leveraged buyout by a Saudi-led investment consortium, leaving the studio’s future far from certain. Not exactly the most inspiring backdrop.
But Armando Troisi, a cinematic designer on the original Mass Effect trilogy and lead cinematic designer on Mass Effect 2, thinks the doom and gloom is overdone — and he’s not shy about saying so.
The Veteran’s Case for Optimism
Speaking to FRVR, Troisi put the situation simply: when BioWare does what it does best — single-player, narrative-driven, deep combat RPG development — nobody does it better. He believes the studio has a long-term track record that no other developer can match in that specific space.
He’s also confident in the people still at the studio. According to Troisi, a significant number of those working on the next Mass Effect game are veterans of the original trilogy — the OGs, in his words — who understand the DNA of the series intimately. That’s a meaningful counterpoint to the narrative that BioWare has become a fundamentally different studio, stripped of the talent that built its reputation.
“I think BioWare can do it if we just leave them alone to do what they do best.” — Armando Troisi, lead cinematic designer on Mass Effect 2
What BioWare needs, Troisi suggested, is exactly that: space. For people in the industry, at EA, and in the broader discourse to step back and let the team develop the game without constant external pressure. He said he’s rooting for them and believes they can do it.
The Challenges Are Real and Shouldn’t Be Dismissed
The optimism is welcome, but context matters. BioWare’s recent track record is not one that invites easy confidence. Mass Effect: Andromeda was widely regarded as a significant stumble for the franchise in 2017. Anthem — the studio’s ambitious live-service RPG shooter — was a commercial and critical disappointment, with servers shutting down entirely in January 2026. Dragon Age: The Veilguard, released last year, had a divisive reception and reportedly missed EA’s internal sales targets.
The studio has gone from more than 400 staff at its creative peak to fewer than 100 today. Every single remaining employee is now working on one project. That’s an enormous amount of pressure concentrated on a single bet — and the financial environment around EA makes it more precarious, not less.
EA buyout context: Electronic Arts was acquired in a $55 billion deal by a consortium including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (93.4% stake), Silver Lake (5.5%) and Affinity Partners (1.1%). The deal carries approximately $20 billion in debt.
Can the Next Mass Effect Actually Survive?
Emmanuel Rosier, a former senior EA manager who now works in market analysis, offered a starkly different assessment to PC Gamer. He wasn’t confident that EA’s new owners — private equity firms with no particular attachment to BioWare’s legacy — would keep funding a high-budget single-player RPG from a studio that hasn’t produced a reliable hit in years. He suggested the new investors would likely take the most financially sound decision, and that anything could happen.
That’s the tightrope the next Mass Effect game walks. In development since at least early 2025, the project has no confirmed title, no release window, and no public footage. It is, in every practical sense, still invisible — which makes it both easier to hope for and easier to cancel.
Troisi’s perspective doesn’t resolve those financial and structural questions — he’s no longer inside the studio, and he can’t speak to what the new EA ownership will ultimately decide. But his voice matters because it represents something the discourse around BioWare has been short on: a credible, experienced developer who worked on the best Mass Effect games and still believes the team can do it again. That’s not nothing, even if it’s not everything.
