Key facts
- Director Akash Sherman said that with BioWare's recent closure, the documentary Massive Effect: The BioWare Story is now a profound valediction.
- BioWare was founded in 1995 and is an Edmonton-based studio that has now closed.
- Electronic Arts shut down BioWare during a broader round of layoffs and also cancelled the studio's new Mass Effect game.
- Dozens of employees and former developers will be interviewed about the company's history, its industry impact, and games such as Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, and Baldur's Gate.
Fennessey Films and Score G Productions are continuing the documentary Massive Effect: The BioWare Story for Canada’s Super Channel after Electronic Arts closed the Edmonton studio recently, and director Akash Sherman said the film is now a profound valediction.
The studio started in 1995 in Edmonton. Electronic Arts shut down the studio during a broader round of layoffs and cancelled its new Mass Effect game. The studio closed just weeks before the documentary’s announcement.
Shane Fennessey said production started two years ago, before Dragon Age: The Veilguard came out, before the Anthem servers closed, and before the EA buyout announcement. The studio’s co-founders, Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, blessed the project and will appear in it.
Dozens of employees and former developers will discuss the company’s history, its effect on the industry and games including Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age and Baldur’s Gate, Bleeding Cool News reports. The outlet says the film will trace BioWare‘s rise, legacy and effect on role-playing games, with rare studio access and talks with developers behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Knights of the Old Republic. The film will also feature Geoff Keighley, voice actor Jennifer Hale and former EA chief executive John Riccitiello, Push Square reports.
The founders said they felt honored and moved by the request and were proud the film honors the people behind the studio. They said the studio was never defined by its logo or its building, but by the tales and characters created by amazingly talented people.
“With the studio’s recent closure, the film is now a profound valediction,” Sherman said. Producer Shane Fennessey said the closure leaves the production team with the task of telling BioWare’s final chapter. Sherman called the founders his hometown heroes and said telling their story is a privilege and a responsibility.
Kim Ball, executive vice president of content and communications for Super Channel, said the company is thrilled to bring the documentary to Canadian viewers and proud to celebrate BioWare’s Edmonton story and the people behind beloved games. No official release timetable has been set, though the filmmakers plan to submit the documentary to festivals for the 2027 circuit.
Lucasfilm Games Vice President Douglas Reilly called BioWare a role-playing game leader that understood Star Wars from the beginning. He described the studio as a true partner on two hit Star Wars games.
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