As reported on Cnet and covered more indepth at Gamespot (among many others) - Electronic Arts is buying Bioware and Pandemic, including the IP for Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Jade Empire. Total price? $860 million. But, for that they are also getting, in the words of the Bioware princes;* "some super secret stuff we're really proud of"
(EDIT: not the only one having "mixed" feelings - UF Sunday comic)
Must admit to being a bit skeptical about the future of the Bioware games and IP - considering how EA is most know for it seasonal mass market sports game, with incremental improvements and changes being the core strategy. Hopefully the rush to market won't be any worse than it has been at times with Atari publishing - as Obsidian has also been feeling...
Best thing about it all? More marketing and great distribution from EA makes it more likely to see a large number of games and add-ons / episodes in the future. And with some luck and strong cultural drive, the quality will stick around as well. Fingers crossed.
...and the sun is heating up an otherwise chilled autumn day...
* aka co-CEOs of BioWare, Drs. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeshcuk
