Topic: Question about the Mass Effect series

Microsoft published the first Mass Effect game, yet the entire series is owned by EA and BioWare. How could MS keep Mass Effect 1 on the Xbox 360 if the series is owned by EA? Doesn't EA have the final say?

Microsoft also published Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2, but those games are owned by Tecmo, meaning Tecmo has the final say. So why is the situation with Mass Effect different?

Different companies make different deals with MS thats all.

Essentially, by my understanding, it comes down to a matter of contract, the particular deal that microsoft and EA made basically states that microsoft has the final say as to what platforms the original ME game gets published on (remember it was originally designed as an Xbox exclusive), therefore, until that deal either changes or expires, if it ever does, the original Mass Effect will remain an Xbox PC exclusive (I'm presuming microsoft allowed the PC port by demiurge since they own the Windows platform as well).

Mass Effect 2, however, was published by EA, who also published the PC version of the original Mass Effect, I'm presuming that since it's a different game, and the franchise itself is owned by EA, that they decided to call their own shots this time around, as they well be with Mass Effect 3, in fact, Casey Hudson has not entirely ruled out a Wii U release of ME3 (source: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_3#Release )

Mass Effect 1 the game did not come out on the PS3. It was released as an interactive comic book instead.

You also have to remember that when Mass Effect one came out Bioware was its own company. ME2 came out after EA and Bioware merged so maybe when they merged it changed the contract or a new one was negotiated.

@tendoboy1984: Oops that was right I will fix that now.

yeah, Mass Effect genesis, it allowed you to make SOME of the major decisions from the original ME, but not all of them, namely, the love interest, who died on Virmire, the fate of the council, the fate of Urdnot Wrex, the fate of the Rachni Queen, and who represent humanity.

Taken from the article on Mass Effect Genesis:
"As Mass Effect was never released on the PlayStation 3, and, due to its being published by Microsoft Game Studios, likely never will be, the interactive comic introduces new players to the story of the original game while allowing them to make six of the major plot decisions that Xbox 360 and PC players could make in the original game"

http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Genesis

Actually, Mass Effect came out almost exactly a month after the acquisition