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Electronic Arts has confirmed that BioWare is closing and said it will stop early development on the next Mass Effect project. Bloomberg reports that EA is laying off about 400 employees, including around 50 at BioWare; the company has not provided a full breakdown of the cuts.
Electronic Arts has confirmed BioWare is closing and said it has ended early development on the next Mass Effect project, ending the run of a studio known for role-playing games including Dragon Age and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Bloomberg separately reports that EA is laying off about 400 employees across the company, including roughly 50 at BioWare.
In a message to staff, EA executives Cam Weber, president and chief studios officer, and David Tinson, president and chief operating officer, described BioWare as a studio that helped define the role-playing genre and said the decision was not taken lightly. BioWare also addressed the closure in a statement, thanking players and staff for more than three decades of work on games including Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age and Mass Effect.
The company said its immediate focus is on its team and supporting colleagues through the closure. The report says about 50 BioWare employees are among the approximately 400 workers facing layoffs, but the figures come from Bloomberg, not a detailed public breakdown from EA. EA’s announcement also said early development on the next Mass Effect game is ending; it did not provide further details about the project’s status or how much work had been completed.
The closure comes as EA revises its development plans across several franchises. The company said Respawn and DICE will collaborate on a future project, while work continues on Marvel’s Iron Man and another Star Wars Jedi game. EA also outlined plans for a new social-first open-world football game called Project Gridiron, and said a new Fight Night title is in pre-production. These plans show the company is continuing to invest in other projects even as it closes BioWare.
BioWare’s Closure Ends a Major RPG Studio
BioWare’s closure affects more than a studio name: it ends the organization that developed a series of role-playing games with long-running audiences and shared fictional worlds. The cancellation of early work on the next Mass Effect also removes a planned continuation of one of the studio’s best-known franchises, though EA has not described what, if anything, may happen to the series under another team.
The reported layoffs add to a wider wave of job cuts across the games industry. EA’s decisions matter to employees whose work is affected, as well as players waiting for future releases. The company’s other announced projects indicate that EA is shifting resources toward a different portfolio rather than stopping game development across the business.
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A Studio Facing Recent Setbacks
BioWare worked on games for more than 30 years, including Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Its more recent releases faced commercial and critical challenges, according to the source report: Mass Effect: Andromeda was widely viewed as a setback for the series, and the 2019 live-service game Anthem did not meet expectations. EA also cut some BioWare staff in 2025 after Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of sales expectations.
The closure follows EA’s move to private ownership. The report says an investor group led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners completed a $55 billion deal in August. It does not establish that the ownership change caused BioWare’s closure. Other large gaming companies have also announced cuts this year, including Xbox, Bungie and Epic Games, but each company’s circumstances differ.
“BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly.”
— Cam Weber, EA president and chief studios officer, and David Tinson, EA president and COO
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Layoff Details and Mass Effect’s Future
EA has not publicly detailed how the reported 400 layoffs are distributed across its studios, or confirmed the precise number of BioWare workers affected. The report attributes the figures to Bloomberg. It is also unclear whether EA might continue the Mass Effect franchise with another team, or whether the canceled early-development project will be replaced by a different plan.
The status of Amazon’s planned Mass Effect television series was initially unclear. An Amazon MGM Studios spokesperson declined to comment, and EA spokesperson Justin Higgs said he had nothing to share at that point. The supplied report says IGN later reported that the series remains in development; that report does not establish whether the studio closure will affect the show’s schedule or creative plans.
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EA’s Remaining Projects Move Forward
EA has outlined projects it intends to continue or develop across its portfolio, including the next Star Wars Jedi title, Marvel’s Iron Man, Project Gridiron and a Fight Night game in pre-production. The company has not supplied release dates for those projects in the information provided. Its statement also described plans to adjust the Skate studio and focus on the game’s roadmap, but did not detail the staffing changes.
For BioWare staff, the immediate next step is the support EA says it is providing during the closure; the specific terms and timeline have not been disclosed in the source material. Players can expect further clarification only if EA or the relevant studios announce what happens to affected projects, employees or franchises.
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Key Questions
Is EA shutting down BioWare?
Yes. EA confirmed that BioWare is closing. The studio’s own statement also said it was closing after more than three decades.
What happens to the next Mass Effect game?
EA said early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending. The company has not said whether another team could take up the franchise or whether a different project will follow.
How many employees are affected?
Bloomberg reports that EA is laying off about 400 employees, including around 50 at BioWare. EA has not provided a full public breakdown of the reported cuts in the supplied material.
Is the Mass Effect TV series still in development?
The report says IGN reported that the Amazon series remains in development. Amazon MGM Studios declined to comment when asked, and EA said it had no update at that point; details about the show’s schedule and any effect from BioWare’s closure remain unclear.
Source: hn
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