EA Shuts Down BioWare and Cancels the Next Mass Effect

Electronic Arts is closing BioWare, the Edmonton studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and ending early development on the next Mass Effect game, the company announced Wednesday.

The closure is part of a broader EA cut. Bloomberg reported that the company is laying off about 400 people across several studios.

What EA and BioWare announced

BioWare posted the news on X on Wednesday afternoon. “After more than three decades of joint adventures, BioWare is closing,” the statement said, and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending. It added: “There is nothing easy about writing those words.”

EA published its own note the same day under the title “Building EA’s Next Chapter,” signed “Cam & David.” GamesRadar identifies the two as chief strategy officer Cam Weber and chief operating officer David Tinson. The note calls BioWare “a legendary studio” and says a small team had been doing early development on a new Mass Effect. EA decided not to continue, and it is closing the studio and its Edmonton workspace. It says it will help affected employees find other roles within EA and treat them “with care and respect.”

According to Vice, BioWare and EA first teased the Mass Effect project at the 2020 Game Awards.

The same note set out changes elsewhere at EA. A Sims project code-named Lotus is paused, according to EA, and the Sims team will concentrate on a project called Evergreen. Some outlets described Lotus as cancelled. EA is cutting the Skate team to a smaller group. EA said it will keep investing in Battlefield, Apex Legends and its sports games, and that the next Star Wars Jedi game and Marvel’s Iron Man are still coming. Staff were told EA is making “deliberate choices to align talent and investments,” according to the letter as quoted by Massively Overpowered.

How many people are affected

The 400 figure comes from Bloomberg, which put it at roughly 3% of EA’s workforce, according to Massively Overpowered. EA’s own note does not give a number.

The BioWare share is less clear. GameSpot, citing Bloomberg, said fewer than 100 BioWare employees are affected. Two other outlets put the figure at about 50 without naming a source. BioWare co-founder Trent Oster, who now runs the Edmonton studio Beamdog, told BNN Bloomberg he believes about 40 people were left at the end, mostly working on the cancelled Mass Effect game.

That is a small studio compared with a year and a half ago. Bloomberg reported in January 2025 that BioWare had shrunk from more than 200 people two years earlier to fewer than 100, with some staff moved permanently to other EA projects including Skate and Iron Man.

Three launches that fell short

Forbes writer Paul Tassi lists Mass Effect: Andromeda, Anthem and Dragon Age: The Veilguard as recent BioWare games that missed fan expectations, financial expectations, or both. Anthem’s servers were switched off earlier this year.

The Veilguard is the one with numbers. Released in October 2024, it drew about 1.5 million players and fell short of EA’s expectations by almost 50%, EA said in its January 2025 earnings release. “Dragon Age and EA SPORTS FC 25 underperformed our net bookings expectations,” chief executive Andrew Wilson said at the time. Former BioWare lead Mark Darrah has blamed unreasonable expectations from EA for the game’s performance.

The buyout in the background

EA’s new ownership frames the announcement. A consortium of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, the investment firm led by Jared Kushner, took EA private for $210 a share in a $55 billion deal that closed on August 4, according to TheWrap. About $20 billion of the financing was debt from JPMorgan Chase. Andrew Wilson remains chief executive.

GameSpot reported that analysts expected cost cuts to help service that debt, and that Mat Piscatella of Circana said companies bought in leveraged buyouts rarely do well afterward. EA has not said the buyout drove the BioWare decision. BNN Bloomberg described the closure as a cost-saving move, and EA’s note says it will run “fewer simultaneous, large-scale projects,” as GameSpot quotes it.

At the close of the deal, Silver Lake chief executive Egon Durban said the owners would invest in EA’s growth. GameSpot also noted a Financial Times report that EA may look for ways to cut development costs. Nothing published so far ties either point to BioWare.

What happens to Mass Effect and Dragon Age

EA has not said. The Dragon Age series is not mentioned in EA’s note, and Vice described the future of BioWare’s franchises as unclear. There is no announced successor team, and no word on whether the next Mass Effect will be revived elsewhere.

On existing games, neither statement mentions any servers being turned off. Massively Overpowered reports that Star Wars: The Old Republic is still running and receiving updates from its developer, Broadsword.

Reaction in Edmonton

BioWare was founded in Edmonton, and the city’s reaction came quickly. Mayor Andrew Knack said the decision “has nothing to do with Edmonton; this has to do with their corporate company making that decision,” and added:

“You can never replace them.” Travis Gibson, vice chair of Digital Alberta, called the closure “a gut punch.” Oster called it “a seismic blow to the local industry.”

Digital Alberta said it is ready to support affected workers, including anyone who wants to start their own studio. Edmonton studios with former BioWare staff include Beamdog, Studio Reset and Arcanaut Studios, according to BNN Bloomberg.