Canadian Politician Wants the Government to Help BioWare Staff Buy the Studio From EA and Run It Themselves

Avi Lewis, leader of one of Canada's top opposition parties, wants the Canadian government to help save Mass Effect developer BioWare. The leader of the New Democratic Party took to social media to speak out against publisher EA. On October 21, EA announced a major shift in strategy and a significant internal restructuring that involves the cancellation of a number of projects, the closure of BioWare in Edmonton, and a reported 400 people losing their jobs. The studio, known for franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, was shut down after more than 30 years of creating beloved role-playing games. It reportedly had 50 people working on the next Mass Effect, all of which were cut.

Lewis linked BioWare's closure to the $55 billion EA acquisition by an investor group composed of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, approved in December 2025. Since the acquisition, EA has been focusing only on its biggest brands — Battlefield and its sports titles, predominantly — while other series have been pushed aside.

Lewis wrote: "This is private equity, this is what it does. Buy up businesses, run them into the ground, and rip them apart for short-term profit." He continued, "The developers at BioWare know how to run the studio. They know how to make the games we all love. They should be given the first opportunity — and the federal support — to buy it and run it themselves. And if we want to avoid the Mass Effect effect in Canada, we should be keeping private equity out, not welcoming it in."