Electronic Arts has confirmed it is shutting down BioWare, bringing an end to a studio that spent more than three decades making role-playing games. The company also confirmed it has stopped development on the in-progress Mass Effect title and will let go of around 400 employees, according to Bloomberg, including roughly 50 people at BioWare, per The Verge.
BioWare, which EA acquired in 2007, is known for Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Anthem. The studio posted a farewell message on social media saying it was "closing" and that early work on the next Mass Effect was ending. The decision was announced internally by EA leaders Cam Weber and David Tinson, who called BioWare "a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre."
What EA is cutting and keeping
The restructuring goes beyond BioWare. EA is cutting roughly three percent of its workforce, a number put at about 400 people by Variety and echoed by Engadget. Skate developer Full Circle is being shrunk into what EA describes as a "more focused, smaller team," while The Sims studio Maxis is pausing development on Project Lotus to push resources into Project Evergreen.
On the production side, EA is still moving on several fronts. Respawn and DICE are collaborating on a new shooter that reports link to Star Wars: Battlefront, following Marvel's Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi title. The company is also working on a football game it calls "Project Gridiron" and reviving the Fight Night boxing series.
- BioWare closes after 30+ years; its Edmonton office also shuts
- Around 400 job cuts across EA, including about 50 at BioWare
- The next Mass Effect game is cancelled during early development
