Following the news that EA is shutting down BioWare, the gaming community has been in mourning for its biggest IPs, including Dragon Age and Mass Effect. As fans rally to save Mass Effect, BioWare’s Co-Founder has been posting messages of support and future ideas and stories for the now-lost franchises.
Trent Oster is listed as a co-founder of BioWare‘s humble beginnings, initially working on Shattered Steel. They went on to help create multiple BioWare games between 1994 and 2009, before leaving to become the CEO of Beamdog. But amid the recent turmoil, Oster believes certain IPs aren’t done.
Ex-BioWare Dev Wants to ‘Get Some Of The Original Band Back Together’
The BioWare news revealed that the next Mass Effect is canceled, and BioWare’s final days will be shared through an upcoming documentary.
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Co-founder Oster has been very vocal on X since the BioWare closure announcement, recently saying:
‘In 1994 a few of us began the journey that was BioWare. I think there are many stories yet to be told.’
This doesn’t mean those stories will be told, but the desire is there. Oster replied to a user’s comment about where BioWare had gone wrong, and said: ‘I think the whole idea would be a return to first principles of good game development. Make the game for the right reasons and make the economics work for the game, not the other way around.’
Oster also discussed the #SaveMassEffect campaign, saying it ‘Makes me want to get some of the original band back together.’ He even went as far as to directly message James Ohlen on X, asking if he’d be willing to join up for a reunion:
‘My first recruit would be @JamesOhlen gotta go for the design OG. I know he’s cooking hard on his own adventure setting, but I gotta ask. James, you up for a reunion?’
Ohlen duly obliged the request:
‘Of course! A chance to work on Dragon Age again is a dream of mine.’
To which Oster simply said: ‘Welcome to the resistance.’ Obviously, the main sticking block is acquiring the IP rights from EA. But if someone could do this, then it means a world without Mass Effect or Dragon Age might not have to happen at all.
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We’ll keep monitoring posts in the coming days to see if there are any further developments or insights into a possible revival.
Does it feel inevitable that one or more BioWare franchises will return? Let us know your thoughts via the free Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Andy is Insider Gaming's Senior Evergreen Editor and has been in the games journalism sphere in one way or another for over 7 years. His video game taste is as…
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