Electronic Arts is closing BioWare after 31 years of operation and has discontinued early development on the next Mass Effect game. EA told employees about the decision in a letter, as first reported by Tom’s Hardware.
The closure also includes BioWare’s Edmonton studio. EA acquired the developer in 2008, bringing an end to a 31-year history under the publisher’s ownership.
A defining RPG studio is coming to an end
BioWare created the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, along with earlier PC role-playing games including Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The next entry in its science-fiction franchise was announced in November 2020, while EA released the Mass Effect Legendary Edition remaster in 2021.
The studio’s latest release, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, launched in 2024 and drew about 1.5 million players during one quarter. That total came in nearly 50% below EA’s expectations.
EA shifts attention to other game projects
EA is prioritizing several other projects and established live-service games:
- Battlefield and Apex Legends
- Marvel’s Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game
- Project Gridiron, Fight Night and Project Evergreen
BioWare general manager Gary McKay had previously said only a core team was working on the forthcoming space RPG, and that the full studio was not needed for that stage of production. The cancellation now removes an announced project from EA’s slate before it moved beyond early work.
The decision matters because BioWare’s catalog helped establish EA as a major publisher of narrative role-playing games, and its series retain large audiences years after their original releases. The 2021 trilogy remaster showed EA still saw value in that back catalog, while The Veilguard’s lower-than-expected player count adds context to a period of tougher commercial pressure around big-budget RPGs.
EA has not disclosed how many employees will lose their jobs or outlined the timing and process for the shutdown. The publisher also has not said whether The Veilguard’s performance contributed to the decision, or whether Mass Effect and Dragon Age could return through another team inside EA.
This article was produced with AI assistance from multi-source reporting and is published under our editorial standards.
