요약
BioWare co-founder and Beamdog CEO Trent Oster has publicly discussed getting the back together, starting with James Ohlen, and saving the IPs
본문
Gaming BioWare Co-Founder/Beamdog CEO Trent Oster Says He’s Running the Numbers on Saving Mass Effect and Wants the Original Band Back Together, Starting with James Ohlen Alessio Palumbo • Nov 9, 2026 at 02:00pm EST Comments
Add to Preferred Sources
BioWare co-founder Trent Oster, who is currently CEO of Beamdog, has openly said he's running the numbers to see whether there's a way to save the closing studio's IPs, especially Mass Effect. He started hinting at it on November 4, tweeting about his desire to "get the band together":
I love seeing all the energy around #SaveMassEffect. I think there is still a great thesis for a well-funded RPG developer who can deliver. Makes me want to get some of the original band back together.
Related Story Mass Effect 3’s Co-op Multiplayer Is Revived with Legendary Edition Multiplayer Mod on N7 Day, Even as BioWare’s Closure Hangs Over the Celebration
The following day, Oster discussed the challenges that would have to be overcome to fund a new Mass Effect title:
The #SaveMassEffect movement makes me wonder if there isn't some other way to build game financing that actually supports a better product instead of undermining it.
The scary component of Mass Effect is that the audience is going to want the best of “AAA” development. Rough ballpark (based on contemporaries) is $200M+. That is a big number to commit up front. There has to be a bigger plan in place for the IP to make the math work. That said, I think it can be done well for less than that amount with a disciplined approach and an experienced team.
On November 6, Oster publicly asked James Ohlen, who worked at BioWare for 22 years, whether he'd like to return on this crazy endeavor - and the answer was a thumbs up:
Oster: 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: Of course! A chance to work on Dragon Age again is a dream of mine.
Ohlen is behind some of the greatest games BioWare has ever made, leading design on Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, and Dragon Age: Origins. He was also the Game Director of the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic and eventually left BioWare in 2018.
He resurfaced less than a year later to found Archetype Entertainment under Wizards of the Coast, helping devise their new Mass Effect-inspired RPG Exodus (now due on April 7, 2027) alongside other former BioWare veterans like Drew Karpyshyn, Chad Robertson, and Chris King. However, he abruptly left Archetype in January 2026, later revealing that he had suffered from a severe case of game development burnout. Has he already recovered enough to undertake such an arduous journey?
Whatever the case, Oster and anyone else who joins the attempt will need "lots of money", as the executive confirmed on X. But he did not relent; this past Saturday, he tweeted:
What are you doing this Saturday? I'm huddled in front of a computer running scenarios in Excel. I just passed rev 30. #SaveMassEffect #SaveDragonAge
On Sunday, he admitted he would welcome support from the Canadian government. After all, Beamdog is also headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, just like BioWare. It just so happens that a fresh fan petition will eventually force a response from the government, although that doesn't mean it will necessarily be the one Oster or the fans would want to hear.
Indeed, we have to be realistic. Beamdog is a small studio focused mostly on porting classics, including BioWare's MDK2, Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, and Neverwinter Nights to modern platforms with some improvements. There's no way they'd have the capital to do this unless a major third party intervened, like the government or, most likely, another investor with enough money to even try to get Electronic Arts at the table to discuss licensing or selling the IPs outright.
Still, the hope burns, especially after N7 Day showed just how much love there is for BioWare and Mass Effect.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
Products mentioned
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
USD 18 Buy from Amazon
Mass Effect Legendary Edition
USD 0 Buy from AmazonDeal of the Day
Further Reading
Mass Effect’s N7 Day Follows EA Shutting Down BioWare and Canceling Its Next Game, but Fans’ Petition Will Force the Canadian Government to Respond
BioWare’s Mass Effect Team of Around 50 People Lost Out to Star Wars Battlefront 3 as EA Sidelined Laura Miele, Its Key Advocate
“EA Never Understood BioWare,” Say Jennifer Hale and Mark Darrah, as Fans Call on CD Projekt to Save Mass Effect
BioWare’s Mass Effect Universe Was Built Around “Absolute Autonomy,” Says Technical Director, as the Save Petition Flies Past 210K Signatures
Read all comments on BioWare Co-Founder/Beamdog CEO Trent Oster Says He’s Running the Numbers on Saving Mass Effect and Wants the Original Band Back Together, Starting with James OhlenTrending Stories
-
Claude Fable 5.2 Builds Playable Gears of War: E-Day Clone From Three-Line Prompt, But Estimated Cost Reaches $15,000
206 Active Readers -
The First Nintendo Switch 2 Jailbreak Is Out Of Commission, As Game Dumping and Modding Have Been Rendered Impossible By Firmware 23.5.0
74 Active Readers -
Alleged Chinese Spy Alice Huang Flaunted Deep Personal Bond With NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang, Who Celebrated Her Every Birthday Every Year And Created $7.5 Billion AI GPU Network
46 Active Readers -
AMD Unveils MEXT Memory Solution: Leverages Flash To Mitigate DRAM Costs While Expanding Capacities & Retaining Similar Performance Even With 50% Cut In DDR5
44 Active Readers -
FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods Is a Nintendo Switch 2 Exclusive, But Its Closed Beta Client Is Already Playable on PC, Paving The Way For The Full Game
43 Active Readers
Popular Discussions
-
NVIDIA Announces A Board Investigation Into A Purported Foreign Influence Operation After Jensen Huang Admits That He Was “Unfaithful” To His Wife, As Questions Emerge On The Suspect Timing Of The Initial Leak
728 Comments -
AMD Zen 6 Architecture Brings A Phenomenal 27% IPC Increase Over Zen 5: Full Architecture Breakdown – Up To 256 Cores, 12.8 GT/s MRDIMMs, A New ISA & More
591 Comments -
Intel Razor Lake-S Desktop CPUs Reportedly Arrive In 2028 On The Same LGA 1954 Socket As Nova Lake-S, Extending Multi-Generational Platform Support
553 Comments -
AMD’s RX 9070 XT Sees Over 50X FPS Boost And Nearly 90% Lower Ray Tracing Memory Usage With New DirectX Technology
446 Comments -
NVIDIA’s Vendor Financing Deals Are Not A Ponzi Scheme As It Is Slated To “Take Out $420 Billion” By Putting In $250 Billion, Says Tech Venture Capitalist Gene Munster
403 Comments