EA Shuts Down BioWare and Cancels the Next Mass Effect in a Round of About 400 Layoffs

Electronic Arts is shutting down BioWare, the studio that made Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and has cancelled the next Mass Effect game. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier broke the story on October 21, and staff letters from EA and BioWare followed the same day (Bloomberg, Game Informer).

What EA and BioWare have said

EA is cutting about 400 jobs, roughly 3 percent of its workforce, and around 50 of those are at BioWare. BioWare's Edmonton workspace is closing. A letter to staff from chief operating officer David Tinson and chief studios officer Cam Weber said EA had "made the decision not to move forward with this development."

BioWare confirmed it in a social post: "BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending" (Kotaku). The studio added that what generations of BioWare staff built together is something to celebrate and remember.

What is cancelled and what continues

Project	Status
Next Mass Effect (early development, small team)	Cancelled
BioWare studio, Edmonton	Closing
Sims "Project Lotus"	Dropped in favour of "Project Evergreen"
Skate	Continues with a smaller team
EA Sports titles, Apex Legends	Continue
Next Star Wars Jedi game, Iron Man game	Continue
Respawn and DICE joint project	Star Wars: Battlefront 3, per Variety; not confirmed by EA

Variety reports that Respawn and DICE are teaming up on Star Wars: Battlefront 3.

How many people are affected

The headline figure is about 400 jobs across EA, with only about 50 at BioWare, which had already been downsized in earlier rounds after Dragon Age: The Veilguard missed sales expectations. Where the remaining cuts fall has not been stated, and EA has not said whether its studio in Hyderabad, one of its larger development and QA sites, is affected. No outlet says how quickly BioWare closes or whether a transition period applies.

The fate of the Dragon Age franchise is also unaddressed. Existing Mass Effect and Dragon Age games are not mentioned in the staff letters as quoted, and no source says the series are over.

The money behind the decision

This is EA's first major move since going private in a roughly $55 billion buyout led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, which closed this summer. The company carries about $18 billion of debt and has told investors it is targeting up to $700 million in annual savings. That context helps explain the timing, though EA has not explicitly linked the closure to the savings target.

A studio with a long history

BioWare was founded in 1995 by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, and EA acquired it in 2007, making the studio 31 years old at closure. Its recent record was uneven: Anthem, launched in 2019, failed and its servers have since been shut down, and EA said Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024) underperformed.

What to watch next

Whether EA says anything formal about Dragon Age and Mass Effect as franchises, whether the Battlefront 3 project is confirmed, and whether EA's next earnings report details where the other 350 job cuts fall.

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