In a rather shocking report from Bloomberg, it has been revealed that Electronic Arts Inc. will be shutting down acclaimed studio BioWare in a cost-cutting effort that sees around 400 jobs lost. Making matters worse, EA has also canceled production of the next Mass Effect game, which was announced back in 2020.

How Many Jobs Are Lost?

Bloomberg does not give a specific number here, but its report claims that around 400 jobs at EA will be lost. The outlet estimates that this number accounts for around 3% of EA’s total staff. 50 of those employees come from BioWare according to an unnamed individual familiar with company plans.

Why Did EA Close BioWare?

In a letter to EA staff reviewed by Bloomberg, EA COO David Tinson and CSO Cam Weber wrote, “Across our portfolio, we’re making deliberate choices to align talent and investments where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth.” To that end, the duo says that “over the past several months, we’ve taken a hard look at our business” and will be cutting projects including the next Mass Effect game. Possibly, the game was costing EA too much, so it decided to liquidate BioWare in an effort to recoup money. More realistically, this is likely a measure to offset the recent acquisition of EA by Saudi Arabia’s PIF, which added around $18 billion of debt to EA.

Last year, EA had laid off a number of BioWare employees due to the “failure” of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which cost far too much to develop. From what I can find, the company had not announced what its next game would be beyond Mass Effect, which hadn’t been seen since its debut six years prior.

Are Any Other Games Canceled?

Surprisingly, the report does make mention of EA canceling another game in a rather popular franchise. While not officially revealed to the public yet, Bloomberg claims that a new title in The Sims franchise has been canceled as well as Mass Effect. Code-named Project Lotus, it’s unclear what the game would have even entailed. Supposedly, staff attention has been diverted to Project Evergreen, and active development of the latest Skate title is still proceeding. Sadly, even Skate’s team has been downsized, though specifics aren’t provided.

Last Word On BioWare’s Closure

Truly, I’m not surprised that EA decided to shut down BioWare. The company did not deserve this fate, but after roughly a decade of “failures” with its titles, this outcome was to be expected. The demand that BioWare develop Anthem really seems to have been the death knell for the once proud studio, which before EA’s acquisition in 2007 had created classics such as Baldur’s Gate, NeverWinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The immediate post-acquisition period for BioWare was the most prolific the studio had ever been, but after the original Mass Effect trilogy wrapped up, the studio never seemed to recover. It’s truly astonishing how EA mismanaged this company so badly, but then that’s been part and parcel for EA as far back as 1996.

The only solace I can hope for is that EA decides to sell off the Mass Effect and Dragon Age IPs so that other studios can take a crack at them. Seeing as how it still owns things such as Command & Conquer and Wing Commander, though, I’m not too hopeful this story will eventually have a happy ending.