Gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) has announced a major restructuring that will see it completely close its Canadian studio BioWare, cancel development of a new Mass Effect game, and cut about 3% of its global workforce. The layoffs will affect an estimated 400 company employees.
Gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) has announced a major restructuring that will see it completely close its Canadian studio BioWare, cancel development of a new Mass Effect game, and cut about 3% of its global workforce. The layoffs will affect an estimated 400 company employees.
This is reported by Bloomberg, citing an internal memo for employees, signed by EA Chief Operating Officer David Tinson and Studio Head Cam Weber.
The restructuring is the publisher’s first major move since it went private in August 2026 for $55 billion in a deal led by the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund (PIF). EA currently has $18 billion in debt and is seeking to cut $700 million in costs, including R&D.
According to management, the closure of BioWare and its head office in Edmonton is due to a change in strategic priorities.
“BioWare is a legendary studio that helped shape the role-playing game genre, and we do not take this decision lightly,” Tinson and Weber said in their statement, stressing that the company is making thoughtful decisions to direct resources where it sees the greatest growth potential.
BioWare was founded in 1995 and acquired by EA in 2007. Over its 30-year history, it has created such iconic franchises as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect. However, the studio has struggled in recent years due to the commercial failures of Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda. The company’s most recent release, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, also failed to meet sales expectations, leading to the first wave of layoffs last year.
In a post on social media, the BioWare team confirmed the completion of the work:
"For over 30 years, BioWare has been more than just a studio. It has been home to the storytellers, developers, and players who have brought our worlds to life. Baldur’s Gate. Neverwinter Nights. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Anthem. Now, after more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing down, and the early development of the next Mass Effect project is coming to an end. These words were not easy to write. Thank you for being such an important part of our story."
In addition to closing BioWare, EA has canceled development of a game in The Sims universe codenamed Project Lotus, prioritizing another project, Project Evergreen. The company is also cutting back on the skate simulator development team.
At the same time, the publisher plans to merge Respawn and DICE studios to work on a new game (according to sources, it is Star Wars: Battlefront 3), continue investing in the Apex Legends franchise, and is also preparing the releases of Marvel’s Iron Man, the next part of Star Wars Jedi, a new Battlefield, and the return of the Fight Night boxing series after a 15-year hiatus.
The closure of the iconic studio caused a wide resonance among game industry executives, development veterans, and prominent public figures.
Michal Nowakowski, co-CEO of CD Projekt Red: "BioWare has played a significant role in the history of CDPR. We met them while localizing and selling the Baldur’s Gate series in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Later, they provided us with a huge amount of help, providing their game engine for The Witcher 1, sharing their expertise, and even giving us a place at their booth at E3. I had the pleasure of visiting them in Edmonton several times, as well as hosting them at our Warsaw office. It’s very disappointing for the people affected, but it’s also sad to see a legendary brand disappear. This is not the best day for the gaming industry."
Mark Darrah, former executive producer at BioWare . In a YouTube video, Darrah said the decision wasn’t a complete surprise to him after EA was bought out by Saudi PIF. He said the Edmonton office closure was also due to the lack of tax breaks for the gaming industry in Alberta (unlike Vancouver), which made it more expensive to hire staff.
Darrah stressed that he sees no signs of transferring BioWare’s 50 employees to other EA divisions, and all rights to franchises such as Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Jade Empire will remain frozen in the publisher’s archives unless it decides to sell them.
"I think we still have to wait a little while before we see if EA has any interest in selling some of their frozen IP. Right now they seem to be in cost control mode. Maybe they will move into revenue generation mode where selling intellectual property might be more desirable," said Mark Darrah.
He called on the community to support the laid-off professionals and their future indie projects.
Maryana Bezugla, People’s Deputy of Ukraine: "BioWare, the favorite studio of my childhood and youth, whose games I grew up on, was closed. The studio in Canada was founded by doctors, two of whom were Ukrainians. The list of how their games, their worlds, and the very fact of the existence of such a studio, the origin and profession of its founders influenced me during the formation of my personality would be very long. Even the fact that I studied to be a doctor and then changed my field of activity. Also, it was the games of this studio that helped me in social adaptation. Traveling through worlds in their RPGs, I played out models of social interaction, which is very helpful with ASD. And now they have been closed. The studio was slowly declining, and it was a matter of time. It’s a pity."
