EA关闭BioWare并取消下一款《质量效应》

Electronic Arts is closing BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Baldur’s Gate, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and it is ending early development on the next Mass Effect game. The publisher confirmed both moves in a memo to employees posted on October 21, 2026, and BioWare shared its own farewell the same day.

The memo, signed by EA president of studios Cam Weber and president and COO David Tinson, describes the closure as part of a push to concentrate investment behind fewer, larger projects. The two executives open by calling EA “the number one publisher in Western HD gaming” and say the industry is shifting under it, with players holding more choices for their time and attention and competition intensifying. Weber and Tinson write that a “small team at BioWare” was in early development on Mass Effect, and that EA decided against continuing the work.

“We’ve made the decision not to move forward with this development, which means we’re closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace. BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly.”

Mass Effect Loses Its Roadmap

The next Mass Effect never advanced past early development, and the memo describes the team behind it as small. There was no release window to push back, so EA is canceling a plan. BioWare’s most recent release was Dragon Age: The Veilguard in 2024, and the first Mass Effect shipped in 2007.

BioWare had been working inside EA alongside Respawn, DICE, and EA Sports, with a small team sketching the next Mass Effect. That Edmonton studio is now closing, and none of the projects the memo lists as priorities is a western RPG.

The trilogy’s save-import system let a Commander Shepard carry choices across three games, and the Legendary Edition repackaged all three in 2021. Dragon Age players sit in the same position after The Veilguard opened new story threads. Both franchises now lack a developer attached to a next entry.

The memo leaves open what happens to BioWare’s remaining staff beyond Edmonton, whether any Mass Effect or Dragon Age work continues inside EA, and which game the Respawn and DICE team will build.

BioWare’s catalog runs from Baldur’s Gate through Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Anthem. Player choice was the studio’s signature, built on relationships with companions, branching dialogue, and decisions that carried between games.

BioWare’s Farewell

“For more than 30 years, BioWare has been more than a studio. It has been a home for storytellers, developers, and the players who brought our worlds to life. Baldur’s Gate. Neverwinter Nights. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Dragon Age. Mass Effect. Anthem. Now, after more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending.”

In the same studio post, BioWare says “our focus right now is on our incredibly talented team who put their hearts into these games, and supporting one another through this transition,” and thanks players for being “the most meaningful part of our story.” EA’s memo does not state how many roles the restructuring affects, saying only that the company will support affected employees in exploring other positions within EA. Weber and Tinson acknowledge the changes will be “difficult, especially for the people and teams across the company who are directly affected.”

The Wider Portfolio Shift

On shooters, EA calls Battlefield 6 “a great success” and says it will combine the Respawn and DICE studios on a future project while “investing heavily in Apex over the next few years” through new multiplayer modes. Battlefield’s launch and live-service lessons feed a shooter portfolio EA wants to grow.

Action-adventure stays centered on two confirmed launches, Marvel’s Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game, after which EA says it will run fewer simultaneous large projects. EA Sports continues to grow with a social-first open-world American football project called Project Gridiron and a Fight Night revival in pre-production, alongside a global FC franchise the memo says the company is “fully committed” to growing. The Sims division prioritizes a project called Evergreen and pauses another named Lotus, while Skate moves to a smaller, more focused team.

Three Priorities, One Direction

The memo organizes the changes around three priorities. Deepen Our Core puts investment behind EA’s biggest franchises and communities. Expand Our Reach chases new platforms, markets, and business models, which the memo says sit beyond the markets and platforms where EA has traditionally been strongest. Transform Our Business uses EA’s sports relationships to build new ways for fans to follow teams and athletes.

The BioWare decision falls under Deepen Our Core. The memo says its “greatest opportunity starts with our franchises and global communities,” and that saying no to some projects is how the company gives its biggest bets the resources they need. Weber and Tinson add that EA will “concentrate our efforts on fewer simultaneous, large-scale projects, ensuring that every game we build in this space is fully set up for success.” BioWare’s early-stage Mass Effect team fell outside that focus.