By Paula Beaton In shock news today, BioWare is closing down after 30 years of making games, with the next Mass Effect game cancelled as a result.
BioWare shared the sad news in an X post, calling out some of the epic titles it’s worked on over the decades, including Dragon Age, Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Neverwinter Nights.
Though the statement doesn’t reveal the reasons behind the studio closure, it’s reportedly part of larger cost-cutting layoffs by parent company Electronic Arts with around 400 job losses, according to Bloomberg.
A letter to EA staff from COO David Tinson and Chief Studios Officer Cam Weber stated that EA has “taken a hard look at our business,” leading to the cancellation of some projects. In a message posted on the EA website, cancellation of the next Mass Effect game, which was in early development, was confirmed.
“As we focus on these larger opportunities, we’ve had a small team at BioWare working on early-development for Mass Effect. 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.
BioWare was founded in 1995 in Alberta, Canada, and acquired by EA in 2007. EA itself was bought out earlier this year but it’s unclear whether the purchase and new ownership have had any impact on the BioWare closure.
The studio has played a huge role in Xbox history, giving us RPG series like Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age, and Neverwinter Nights. We’re sad to hear the news of its closure — it feels like yet more bad news in a wave of layoffs hitting the industry right now. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted.
Fletcher Wilkinson