The properties can still be sold off, and any new studio is going to most likely start over from nearly scratch on a project if they're to try to make a ME5. It's doubtful they were anywhere far into development anyway given it's been totally mum in any details outside of a picture and recent trends haven't been promising from Bioware's efforts in the story writing department.
Now that said, EA probably aren't going to sell off a franchise that only a smaller studio is probably going to want to buy, and they may just sit on it for a long time just to make sure no one else makes a great game on the franchise that they can't profit off of, but they need to make money off it beyond the bubble of sorts games and their stupid cards gacha shit do who knows.
Maybe if a Larian gets a itch to make a sci-fi and wants to tell a story in a world that already exists but to add their own twist in it. Or a Project Red wants to do something in space.
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u/Nickillaz 8h ago
So shutting it down is easier than selling it off? Surely some company would want Bioware even just for the name or the IP?