EA to acquire makers of Mass Effect and Mercenaries in $700 million deal.

EA has announced that it plans to acquire BioWare and Pandemic Studios, in what could end up being a $775 million deal. BioWare is best known for its work on RPGs, most notably Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic and the forthcoming Xbox 360 exclusive Mass Effect. Pandemic created Mercenaries and is currently working on Mercenaries 2 and Saboteur.

"These are two of the most respected studios in the industry and I'm glad to be working with them again. They'll make a strong contribution to our strategic growth initiatives on quality, online gaming and developing new intellectual properties," said John Riccitiello, EA's Chief Executive Officer. "We also expect this will drive long-term value for our shareholders."

The deal is said to be completed by January 2008, with the two studios joining the EA Games label.

"We are truly excited by John Riccitiello's new vision for EA," said Ray Muzyka, Co-founder and CEO of BioWare Corp. "This vision is consistent with BioWare's focus on crafting the highest quality story-driven games in the world. It will enable us to further the careers of the passionate, creative and hard working teams at BioWare Edmonton and BioWare Austin."

Mass Effect will be unaffected by the deal, but the future of the series is in doubt; BioWare originally announced that Mass Effect would be the first in a trilogy of titles. Microsoft was unavailable for comment at time of writing.

Update: During a conference call with analysts EA has confirmed that the deal will mean that it will own the Mass Effect, Jade Empire, Mercenaries, Full Spectrum Warrior, and Saboteur properties.