Mass Effect Prices Skyrocket Following BioWare Closure

People Are Taking Advantage Of BioWare’s Closure By Selling Its Games For Extortionate Prices Published Oct 23, 2026, 3:48 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 3,000 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, provided context on some AI drama, and revealed that Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on three occasions. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Sign in to your TheGamer account You have to think that BioWare and Mass Effect will be stuck in the news cycle for a while now. On Wednesday, it was announced that EA had shuttered the historic studio following its acquisition by a Saudi Arabia-led consortium, and the backlash was fierce. Universe, the name of the next Mass Effect title, was canned, and while the TV show lives on, the situation has left fans hurt and disappointed. With people mourning the studio, some have taken it upon themselves to take advantage, and at least one BioWare title has seen its price skyrocket in the wake of the news. Mass Effect Legendary Edition Has Doubled In Price Over The Last Few Days Mass Effect Legendary Edition wasn't a particularly rare game. It had a wide physical release on both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 when it launched in May 2021. Its price, particularly on PS4, has ballooned since the news that BioWare was shutting down. Earlier this year, used copies of the game were selling for $19.99 and sealed copies for as low as $45. That is certainly not the case any longer. Since the news of BioWare's closure, sealed copies of the game are regularly selling for $100+. One seller has sold three used copies of the game today for $100. We've not seen FOMO like this since Piglet's Big Game. The Xbox version, which is available via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, remains unaffected, as does most of BioWare's back catalog. The rise in scalping, and people trying to make a pretty penny off others' misfortune, needs to be studied. While it's always been there, things have ramped up over the last few years. Pokemon is a prime target: the TCG is a mess, and people are stooping as low as scalping Pokemon Pop-Tarts. We've also seen Kingdom Hearts pins, Wolverine claws, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, and vinyls suffer similar fates over the last few months. Released November 20, 2007 ESRB M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Engine Unreal Engine 3 Cross-Platform Play doesn't have cross-play between PC and consoles, Cross Save yes Franchise Mass Effect