Electronic Arts is closing BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and ending early development on the next Mass Effect game. The publisher confirmed a series of portfolio and staffing changes on October 21, and Bloomberg reported that about 400 jobs are being cut across the company, roughly 3% of its staff, with around 50 of those at BioWare.
BioWare announced its own closure in a statement posted to social media, describing itself as "more than a studio" and listing Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Anthem among the games it made over more than three decades.
Now, after more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending. There is nothing easy about writing those words.
In a memo sent to staff and later published online, EA executives David Tinson and Cam Weber wrote that the company had "taken a hard look at our business" over the past several months. "Today, we're the number one publisher in Western HD gaming," the memo said, as quoted by Eurogamer. "Yet our industry is changing quickly. Players have more choices than ever for their time and attention, competition is intensifying, and some of our biggest opportunities for growth are beyond the markets, platforms, and business models where EA has traditionally been the strongest."
What was cut and what continues
- The next Mass Effect, which EA said a small team at BioWare was working on in early development, is cancelled, along with the studio and its Edmonton workspace.
- Project Lotus, an unannounced game in The Sims franchise, is paused. EA said it is prioritizing another Sims project code-named Project Evergreen and giving that team more time.
- The early access skate reboot continues, with its studio restructured into what the memo calls a "more focused, smaller team."
- Apex Legends, the Battlefield series, a third Star Wars Jedi game and Marvel's Iron Man remain in development.
- Respawn and DICE will be brought together to collaborate on a future project.
The memo said EA will "concentrate our efforts on fewer simultaneous, large-scale projects" in big-budget action-adventure development. GameSpot reported that EA called the layoffs a "difficult" choice, said affected staff would be treated with "care and respect," and said some of them may be able to move to other roles inside the company. EA described BioWare as "a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre" and said it did not take the decision lightly.
The closure came less than three months after EA completed its acquisition by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners on August 4, GamesIndustry.biz reported; Esports.gg put the value of the take-private deal at $55 billion. GameSpot reported that BioWare developers had feared for their jobs after the PIF purchase was announced, and quoted CD Projekt's Michal Nowakowski, who recalled that BioWare localized the Baldur's Gate games in Europe and later lent its engine to CD Projekt for the first Witcher game.
BioWare's most recent release, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, missed EA's sales expectations, and Bloomberg reported that the shortfall led EA to cut the studio back last year. The most recent Mass Effect game was 2017's Mass Effect: Andromeda, and the project cancelled this week had been announced in 2020.
