Ex-BioWare staffer says EA managers wanted a flag cut from Mass Effect video

A former BioWare employee says developers on the canceled Mass Effect game were asked to remove a flag from a presentation video because it looked too much like the LGBTQ flag. The claim is unconfirmed, comes from one anonymous person, and surfaced a week after EA announced BioWare’s closure on October 21. Polygon relayed it on Wednesday, October 28. ¹

The employee spoke to French outlet BFM TV, which reported that staff at the studio shared their accounts anonymously because the closure process is not finished. ² According to Polygon’s summary of the interview, the flag was to be removed “not to offend.” ¹

The interview does not say who made the request. It also does not say whether the developers complied. ¹

What we know / What we do not

What we know: the project was Mass Effect Universe, also referred to as Mass Effect 5. It was announced at the 2020 Game Awards and was set 600 years after the original trilogy, BFM TV reports. Staff told the outlet they expected to ship it in late 2028. ²

The same employee offered a broader read on how the project fared with new management. The video proposals presented to executives “weren’t convincing,” the person said, and BioWare’s reputation for inclusive storytelling did not help ease the skepticism. ¹

What we do not know: who asked for the flag to come out, whether it did, and whether EA disputes the account. BFM TV says it contacted EA on the points raised in its reporting and received no reply. ²

The claim rests on a single anonymous source, relayed by two outlets. Polygon notes the flag episode did not cause the closure. ¹

The ownership backdrop

EA was sold for $55 billion to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake Partners and Affinity Partners, the firm owned by Jared Kushner. The sale closed on August 4, according to Kotaku. ³ After the deal closed, EA executives told a global town hall that the new partners would not be involved in creative decisions, Kotaku reported, citing sources who viewed the presentation. ³

The BioWare closure came alongside a wider EA reorganization. BFM TV puts the number of people laid off at 400, and says some of them worked on Mass Effect Universe. EA described the reorganization as a way to “open a new chapter.” ²

The video at the center of the flag claim spread on social media right after the closure was announced, BFM TV says. The outlet adds that the video was not meant to be public and that parts of it were planned for N7 Day, the Mass Effect fan holiday on November 7. ²

Our read: One unnamed account does not settle what happened, and nothing in the sources links the flag request to the cancellation. The useful test is whether EA answers BFM TV’s questions or anyone else’s. N7 Day on November 7 is the next date that could bring either an EA statement or more of the video into view.

Footnotes

1. Polygon, “BioWare Was Asked to Remove LGBTQ Flag from Canceled Mass Effect Game, Report Says”. Retrieved October 28, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. BFM TV, ““Un gâchis attendu”: après l’annonce de la fermeture de Bioware, des salariés du studio emblématique témoignent, entre dépit et nostalgie, d’un projet unique, complexe, ambitieux et prometteur”. Retrieved October 28, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Kotaku, “EA Tells Devs Its Saudi Arabia Owners Won’t Make Creative Decisions, Queer Fans Don’t Buy It”. Retrieved October 28, 2026. ↩ ↩²