BioWare and Mass Effect End After 30 Years as EA Shifts Focus
EA is shutting down BioWare and its Edmonton studio, ending the Mass Effect saga after more than three decades.
By Wei Zhang ·
BioWare and the next Mass Effect game are no more. Electronic Arts (EA) confirmed this in a recent letter to employees, revealing that early development on the next Mass Effect game has also been canceled. BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect and other popular franchises like Dragon Age and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, has operated for 31 years, but that run is ending.
EA is shifting its focus to other major franchises like Battlefield, Iron Man, and a Fight Night revival. The next Mass Effect game was first announced in November 2020, and a trailer was released that December. The Mass Effect Legendary Edition, which remastered the original trilogy, came out in 2021, but since then, the studio has been relatively quiet, except for the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard in 2024.
EA has only a few lines for BioWare in its latest update, instead focusing on three priorities: Deepen Our Core, Expand Our Reach, and Transform Our Business. Battlefield 6 is being called a great success, and EA is focusing on Apex Legends modes, Marvel’s Iron Man, and the next Star Wars Jedi game. Project Gridiron, a social-first, open-world experience from EA’s American football team, is also in pre-production for a Fight Night revival.
Those affected by the changes will be supported in exploring other opportunities within EA. The company did not give a job count, and neither the Mass Effect nor the Dragon Age series was declared dead. However, BioWare’s released games were also not mentioned, which may indicate they are no longer a priority.
EA’s decision to cancel the next Mass Effect game may have been influenced by its performance. Veilguard, as EA described it early last year, engaged only about 1.5 million players during the quarter, which was down nearly 50% from the company’s expectations. Around the same time, BioWare general manager Gary McKay said that only a core team was working on the next Mass Effect game and didn’t require support from the full studio, as colleagues were matched with other teams at EA.
Source: Tom's Hardware
