{"rewrite":{"id":"r_ae36eb1348128d91aabea67b","clusterId":"c_d7b3558aab715f50729ac200","slug":"bioware-co-founder-puts-a-price-on-saving-mass-effect-over-200-million","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"BioWare Co-Founder Puts a Price on Saving Mass Effect: Over $200 Million","summary":"Trent Oster, co-founder of BioWare, said on November 6 that developing a new Mass Effect would require more than 200 million dollars, roughly 32 billion yen at current rates. EA announced BioWare's closure on October 22 and canceled the in-progress Mass Effect game. A #SaveMassEffect petition has gathered more than 300,000 signatures, and its organizer has floated licensing the IP to another studio as an alternative.","whyItMatters":"Oster's estimate gives the #SaveMassEffect petition a hard number to argue against, and his own answer, that a disciplined experienced team could do it cheaper, is the only path he names that does not depend on EA selling the license.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eOster\u0026#39;s figure is a rough estimate drawn from recent titles, not a budget. He framed the risk in terms of audience expectation: players want the best AAA, and meeting that bar is what makes the upfront cost frightening. His cheaper alternative is a disciplined, experienced team, which shifts the question from whether EA will sell to whether anyone can build the game at a lower number.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOthers who worked on the series are less hopeful about a sale. Romain Toutain, a franchise technical director on Mass Effect at BioWare, said EA will not sell anything and will keep holding the license. Mark Darrah, a former executive producer, said in 2025, before the closure decision, that EA is incentivized not to take risks and is therefore reluctant to sell IP, though he said incentives could change if EA\u0026#39;s structure changes.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Trent Oster's $200 million figure sets the bar for any studio that takes EA's Mass Effect license: the petition's 300,000 signatures do not fund a AAA production.","twitterPost":"Trent Oster puts a new Mass Effect at over $200 million. The licensing pitch a petition organizer floated needs a studio that can carry that budget.","threadsPost":"Trent Oster's over $200 million estimate for a new Mass Effect is the number that decides the licensing idea. Signatures got the campaign attention, but a studio taking the IP from EA has to fund a full AAA budget before it ships anything.","newsletterBlurb":"BioWare co-founder Trent Oster put a number on reviving Mass Effect: more than $200 million, or about 32 billion yen. He said players want the best AAA, and that an experienced, disciplined team could bring the cost down. The #SaveMassEffect petition has passed 300,000 signatures since EA announced BioWare's closure on October 22.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20261106-477869/\",\"title\":\"Closed BioWare co-founder says it would likely take over 32 billion yen to \\\"save\\\" Mass Effect; players want \\\"the best AAA,\\\" and hurdles beyond licensing are high\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":5448,"outputTokens":795,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1793938796,"createdAt":"2026-11-06T04:14:19.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-11-06T04:18:52.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-06T04:18:52.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_d7b3558aab715f50729ac200","canonicalTitle":"閉鎖したBioWareの共同創設者、『Mass Effect』を“救う”には320億円以上必要そうとの見解。プレイヤーが欲しいのは“最高のAAA“、ライセンス以外にも高いハードル","representativeArticleId":"a_8a5039e65133c3fdc7a24976","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Mass Effect\"],\"studios\":[\"BioWare\"],\"people\":[\"Trent Oster\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-11-06T03:30:50.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-11-06T03:30:50.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-06T04:18:52.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20261106-477869/","title":"閉鎖したBioWareの共同創設者、『Mass Effect』を“救う”には320億円以上必要そうとの見解。プレイヤーが欲しいのは“最高のAAA“、ライセンス以外にも高いハードル"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Mass Effect"],"studios":["BioWare"],"people":["Trent Oster"],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["Trent Oster, co-founder of BioWare, said on November 6 that a new Mass Effect would need more than 200 million dollars, roughly 32 billion yen.","EA announced BioWare's closure on October 22 and canceled development of the in-progress Mass Effect game.","The #SaveMassEffect petition has gathered more than 300,000 signatures.","Romain Toutain, a franchise technical director on Mass Effect at BioWare, said EA will not sell anything and will keep holding the license.","Oster said Mass Effect could be made cheaper if an experienced team takes a disciplined approach."],"pageLinks":{"healthSlugs":["mass-effect","bioware","trent-oster"],"storySlugs":[],"entities":[{"slug":"mass-effect","supported":1,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":8,"overall":"green","story_count":7,"has_dossier":true},{"slug":"bioware","supported":2,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":17,"overall":"green","story_count":12,"has_dossier":true},{"slug":"trent-oster","supported":0,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":0,"overall":"unverified","story_count":1,"has_dossier":false}],"stories":[],"entitiesOk":true,"storiesOk":true}}