Electronic Arts is closing BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age. The company will also cut about 400 jobs, roughly 3% of its staff, Bloomberg reported. BioWare confirmed the closure in a post on its own account.
For RPG fans, this is a heavy day. It also happens to be the first big move EA has made since going private.
BioWare Shutdown Confirmed
BioWare posted a statement on X confirming the shutdown and thanking everyone for their support over the studio’s lifetime. EA did not say how many people were laid off in its announcement, but GamesBeat and Bloomberg were told 400.
The news came in a letter to staff from EA’s COO David Tinson and chief studios officer Cam Weber.
Key Details
- BioWare is closing. EA also ended its new Mass Effect game, and the studio’s Edmonton office in Canada is closing.
- About 400 jobs are affected. That is roughly 50 people at BioWare and 350 elsewhere in the company.
- Other studios took hits too. There were big cuts at The Sims and Battlefield studios. EA also cancelled a Sims game called “Project Lotus” and scaled down the Skate team.
- Skate continues. Full Circle will keep working on it with a smaller team.
BioWare’s Fall
BioWare was one of the names that defined modern RPGs. It was founded in 1995 and bought by EA in 2007. Its closure also means the next Mass Effect is gone, at least in its current form.
Mass Effect 5 had been in development since at least February 2022. EA said only a small team at BioWare was working on early development of the game.
The studio’s recent record didn’t help. Both Anthem in 2019 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard in 2024 failed to meet expectations. EA cut the studio’s staff sharply last year after Veilguard missed sales targets.
Official Statements
EA’s memo says the company took “a hard look” at its business over several months. It describes the cuts as choices to put talent and money where EA sees the most opportunity for players and growth.
The executives also said the BioWare decision was not taken lightly, calling it a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre.
What EA Is Betting On Now
According to a staff letter seen by Bloomberg, EA is moving most of its investment toward sports titles, Apex Legends, Battlefield, and new Star Wars and Iron Man games. EA says it is still working on Marvel’s Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game.
Availability: What Happens to Existing Games?
The reports I found don’t say what happens to support for older BioWare games. A few things are known:
- Star Wars: The Old Republic is still running and getting updates, thanks to developer Broadsword.
- Anthem was shut down at the start of this year.
- EA says it will help affected employees look at other roles within the company. Reports don’t say how many will be offered one.
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Industry Impact
The timing is the story here. The cuts come two months after EA went private in a $55B buyout led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which put around $18B in debt on EA’s books, according to Bloomberg. EA told investors in March it planned to save some $700 million after the leveraged buyout.
Insider Gaming called the layoffs the first major domino to fall under the new ownership group. That is the outlet’s reading, not an official EA statement.
Franchises Under Pressure
EA’s message is clear. Sports, shooters, and big licensed franchises get the money. Everything else is under pressure.
For gamers, the question now is whether Mass Effect and Dragon Age survive as brands, and who would make them. EA hasn’t said. Until it does, treat any talk of a Mass Effect revival as speculation.
