EA正式关停BioWare工作室

EA was sold off to a private equity consortium earlier this year, in a deal that has saddled the publisher with billions of dollars worth of debt. Now, the fallout is beginning, with hundreds of layoffs being scheduled. On top of that, beloved RPG studio BioWare is shutting down, cancelling plans for the next Mass Effect game.

Bloomberg reports that EA is planning to layoff around 400 staff members, a modest cut of around 3%. However, as is often the case with any restructuring, this initial round of layoffs may just be the beginning, so there could be further quarterly cuts to improve revenue charts.

Unfortunately, this initial round of layoffs does include a particularly big studio closure. BioWare is being shut down for good, and Mass Effect 5, which had around 50 employees working on it this year, is now cancelled. It would appear that EA is getting out of the RPG genre for good, and will now put all of its funding towards new shooters like Battlefield, and continued development of annual sports titles. EA also plans to continue work on the next Star Wars Jedi game, Apex Legends, and their upcoming Iron Man game.

BioWare was one of the biggest RPG studios of the 2000s, shipping hits like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Unfortunately, the studio faced issues over the PS4 generation. Mass Effect Andromeda wasn't nearly as loved as the original trilogy, and the studio wasted years trying to transform into a multiplayer / live service studio, resulting in Anthem, which was ultimately cancelled. These multiplayer ambitions also led to issues with Dragon Age, as Dragon Age: The Veilguard underwent several reboots before finally releasing in 2024. Unfortunately, the game didn't live up to the standards we've come to expect from BioWare when it came to story and character writing, and the game didn't sell well as a result.

BioWare has spent the last couple of years in pre-production on a new Mass Effect game, one that would reunite the creators of the original trilogy and set up a proper future for the series. Unfortunately, now we'll unlikely see another Mass Effect game again.

KitGuru Says: I find it hard to believe that someone out there wouldn't take a swing on acquiring BioWare and the Mass Effect IP. Maybe something on that front will emerge now that this news is out but for now, it looks like we'll be saying goodbye to BioWare completely, and all of the IP that they built.

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