The BioWare closing is confirmed. Electronic Arts told employees on Wednesday, October 21, that it is shutting down the studio and its Edmonton workspace after deciding not to move forward with early development on the next Mass Effect. EA published the memo on its own news site, and it covers a lot more than BioWare: a paused Sims project, a smaller skate. team, two new EA Sports projects and a joint project from Respawn and DICE.
What EA said about BioWare
EA describes the Mass Effect work as early development by “a small team at BioWare.” The company says it decided not to continue that project, and closing the studio follows from that decision. The memo’s one line on the studio itself is short: “BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly.”
BioWare posted its own goodbye a few minutes later, listing Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Anthem before getting to the point: “BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending.” The rest of the post thanks players and says the team’s focus is on supporting each other.
Neither EA nor BioWare said anything about the studio’s existing games. There is no word yet on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Anthem, online features or store listings, so for now nothing has been announced as changing.
Layoffs
EA’s memo confirms that people across the company are affected but does not give a number. Bloomberg reports the cuts at about 400 jobs. EA says it will help impacted employees look at other roles inside the company and that it is “committed to treating impacted colleagues with care and respect.” It also says it will talk through the changes at a Global Town Hall in November.
The Sims and skate.
On the Lifestyle side, EA is putting The Sims team’s effort into the project it calls Project Evergreen, and to make room for that it is pausing development on Project Lotus. EA says the goal is to give Evergreen more time to reach its full vision. It did not say what either project actually is.
Skate. is also changing. EA says the game has done well at bringing players in, and it now wants an experience that keeps them around. To get there, it is restructuring the studio into “a more focused, smaller team” working from a clear roadmap for the community.
What’s new at EA Sports
EA says its sports business is working “from a position of strength,” and it has two new projects in development that it plans to talk about over the next few months:
- Project Gridiron, which EA calls a brand-new, social-first open-world experience from its American football team.
- Fight Night, now in pre-production, built with help from EA’s simulation fighting team.
EA also says it’s still investing in FC and the rest of the EA Sports lineup.
Shooters and action games
EA calls Battlefield 6 “a great success” and says more Battlefield games are coming. Separately, Respawn and DICE will work together on a future project. EA didn’t name it or give a platform or window, only that it will share more later. Apex Legends is still getting investment over the next few years, including new multiplayer modes.
In action-adventure, Marvel’s Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game are both still on track. After those, EA says it will run fewer large projects at the same time so each one gets full support.
The bigger picture
The memo comes about 11 weeks after EA’s acquisition by PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners closed on August 4, taking the company private. The memo doesn’t mention the deal. It frames the changes around three priorities instead: deepening EA’s core franchises, reaching new players and markets, and building new ways for sports fans to engage.
For Mass Effect fans, that leaves the series without the studio that made it and without a next game in development. EA hasn’t said what it plans for the license. If it shares more about BioWare’s games or the new projects, we’ll update this post.