EA 关停 BioWare 并取消其 50 人《质量效应》项目，350 人裁员紧随 $55 billion 收购

The day millions of RPG fans dreaded has arrived: Canadian developer BioWare is being shut down by Electronic Arts, as first reported by Bloomberg, and the studio's only in-development project, a new Mass Effect game, has been canceled.

It was being developed by a skeleton crew of 50 people, following earlier layoffs that had already fueled skepticism about the game's status. Electronic Arts is also laying off another 350 staff members across various studios, by the way, which analysts had assumed would happen following the $55 billion buyout that left the publisher with around $18 billion in debt.

The shadow of a studio closure had followed BioWare for a long time, following a string of commercially unsuccessful game releases. Arguably, their last successful launch was 2014's Dragon Age: Inquisition, which won the Game of the Year award at TGA and sold 12 million units over its lifetime, becoming the studio's best-selling game. Three years later, Mass Effect: Andromeda marked the start of BioWare's struggling phase; it wasn't a bad game, but it offered nowhere near the magic of the original trilogy.

The real disaster was Anthem. Conceived as a live service game that would last for over ten years, it turned out to be a major disappointment and was shut down just two years after its launch, after a massive budget expenditure.

The following Dragon Age game, Veilguard, originally started as a live service game and had to pivot midway through development after Anthem's failure. Despite the troubles, it was ultimately well received by critics, but it didn't connect with players, engaging only around 1.5 million players (via sales or the EA Play subscription) during its three months on the market, while EA had hoped for at least double that figure.

As I mentioned earlier, it is an extremely sad day for those RPG players who spent hundreds of hours in BioWare's games. Since its foundation in 1995, the Edmonton-based developer has released some of the best games in Western RPG history, such as:

• Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II
• Neverwinter Nights
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Jade Empire
• Dragon Age
• Mass Effect

The status of the Dragon Age and Mass Effect IPs remains unclear. Hopefully, EA will see reason and either sell them or at least license them, rather than allowing them to rot. Mass Effect even has a TV series in development at Amazon Prime Video, which should hopefully make it even more appealing to prospective buyers.

In closing this article, here's the parting message shared on the studio's X account:

There is nothing easy about writing those words. Our focus right now is on our incredibly talented team who put their hearts into these games, and supporting one another through this transition. What generations of BioWare built together is something to celebrate and remember. These games became so much more because you played them, debated your choices, fell in love with the characters, and made these worlds your own.

From all of us at BioWare, thank you for being the most meaningful part of our story.

At least Mass Effect fans will have not one but two games (The Expanse: Osiris Reborn and EXODUS) heavily inspired by their favorite series to play in just a few months.

About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.

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