BioWare co-founder Trent Oster is exploring whether he can bring back the studio’s franchises, with former creative director James Ohlen expressing interest in joining him. VGC reports that Oster has been working through financing scenarios for a potential revival of Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Securing the rights from Electronic Arts remains central to his plans.
The discussions follow EA’s decision last month to close BioWare and cancel the next Mass Effect. Fans have since rallied around the Save Mass Effect campaign, and Oster’s response has moved from support for the movement to examining how another RPG venture might work. He left BioWare in 2009 and went on to found Beamdog.
Oster has approached Ohlen, whose BioWare credits include Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age: Origins. In the reply quoted by VGC, Ohlen answered: “Of course! A chance to work on Dragon Age again is a dream of mine.” His enthusiasm gives Oster a potential collaborator with direct experience of the games he wants to revive.
Financing the return
Wccftech’s coverage of Oster’s comments sets out the scale of the funding problem. Oster estimates that meeting players’ expectations for a major Mass Effect game could cost more than USD 200 million, based on comparable productions. He believes an experienced team and a disciplined approach could deliver it for less, but argues that the franchise would need a broader business plan to justify the upfront investment.
That estimate describes the challenge facing a possible future project, rather than a disclosed budget for the cancelled sequel. Oster’s preferred outcome is a BioWare focused on the role-playing games that established its reputation, instead of repeatedly pursuing different business models. In VGC’s account, he also stresses that obtaining the intellectual property is essential to the venture.
The rights question connects his creative ambitions to EA’s wider decisions about its games. Earlier reporting examined EA’s reported preference for Battlefront 3 over another Mass Effect. Oster’s proposal would require a route back to the franchises as well as the money and people needed to develop them.
VGC also reports that Canadian MP Don Davies called for BioWare’s staff to receive the first opportunity, with federal support, to buy the studio and run it themselves. Oster responded by suggesting a conversation with Davies. Separately, he described working through more than 30 revisions of financial scenarios in Excel, showing where his attention currently lies: making the numbers work before a revival can take shape.
Has EA agreed to sell Mass Effect or Dragon Age?
The reports describe Oster exploring how to obtain the rights. An agreement with EA remains unresolved.
Is James Ohlen joining Beamdog?
Ohlen publicly expressed interest in reuniting with Oster and working on Dragon Age again. The reported exchange concerns a possible collaboration, rather than an announced appointment at Beamdog.
