Electronic Arts is shutting down BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Early development on the next Mass Effect game is ending with it.
EA announced the changes on Wednesday, October 21, in a memo to employees from Cam Weber, president and chief studios officer, and David Tinson, president and COO. It is the company's first major move since it went private this summer.
BioWare's last update
"After more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending," the studio wrote on its official blog. "There is nothing easy about writing those words."
According to the memo, EA had "a small team at BioWare working on early-development for Mass Effect" and decided not to move forward with it, "which means we're closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace." The executives wrote: "BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly."
Bloomberg reported that BioWare employed fewer than 100 people, according to GameSpot. The next Mass Effect was first announced in 2020, The Washington Post notes.
About 400 layoffs across EA
Variety reports the restructuring will lay off about 3% of EA's global workforce. EA last reported 14,500 employees, which puts the cuts at around 400 people. GameSpot, citing Vertical Slice, reports that staff at Ripple Effect (Battlefield), Maxis (The Sims) and Full Circle (Skate) are also affected. EA says it will help impacted employees explore other roles inside the company.
What else is changing
- The Sims: EA is pausing development on "Project Lotus" to focus on "Project Evergreen," giving that team "more time to reach the full potential and vision for the game."
- Skate: The game stays live, but EA is moving to "a more focused, smaller team" for the studio.
- Shooters: EA calls Battlefield 6 "a great success" and says Respawn and DICE will collaborate on a future project. EA did not name it, but Variety reports, citing multiple sources, that it is Star Wars: Battlefront 3.
- Apex Legends: EA says it will keep investing "heavily," with new multiplayer modes planned.
- Action-adventure: Marvel's Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game are still in development. Beyond those, EA says it will focus on "fewer simultaneous, large-scale projects."
New EA Sports projects
EA Sports has two new projects that the company says will be revealed over the next few months. One is Project Gridiron, which the memo describes as "a brand-new, social-first open-world experience" for American football. The other is a return of Fight Night, the boxing series, which is in pre-production after a 15-year break.
The $55 billion backdrop
EA closed its sale to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners on August 4 in an all-cash deal valued at $55 billion. GameSpot notes the deal was structured as a leveraged buyout, the largest on record, which means it comes with significant debt.
The executives framed the cuts around three priorities: deepening EA's core franchises, reaching new players, platforms and markets, and finding new ways for sports fans to engage. "Saying no to some things we're passionate about allows us to focus our teams and resources," they wrote. EA says it will discuss its direction further at a global town hall in November.
