Electronic Arts is closing BioWare after ending early development on the next Mass Effect project, and the Mass Effect campaign Times Square moment now lands as a corporate shutdown, not a promotion. The move is part of a wider studio restructuring announced on Wednesday.
The restructuring will cut about 3% of EA’s global workforce, or around 400 staffers, from a company that last reported 14,500 employees. BioWare said that after more than three decades of shared adventures, the studio is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending.
Cam Weber and David Tinson
Cam Weber and David Tinson said in the memo that EA had taken “a hard look” at its business over the past several months and what it would take “to lead in this next era of interactive entertainment.” That memo set off the changes that now reach BioWare’s Edmonton office and its work on Mass Effect.
BioWare team members also posted that there is “nothing easy about writing those words” and that their focus is on their “incredibly talented team” and supporting one another through the transition. For employees in Edmonton, the closure means the studio’s long run is ending at the same time as the next installment in one of its best-known series.
Battlefield 6 and BioWare
The announcement carries a sharp contrast. EA said Battlefield 6 was a great success while it is also shutting down BioWare and ending early development on the next Mass Effect project. In the same restructuring, EA said it will bring together Respawn and DICE on a future project.
That creates a clearer picture of what EA is choosing to keep building and what it is walking away from. The company also said it will continue to invest heavily in Apex Legends over the next few years, remains committed to Marvel’s Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game, and has two new EA Sports projects due to be revealed over the next few months.
Edmonton and Mass Effect
For readers following Mass Effect campaign Times Square chatter, the practical change is simple: the franchise’s next chapter has been pulled back before it reached full development, and BioWare’s Edmonton office is part of the closure. The most immediate fallout is for the staffers inside the studio, not for a finished game.
What EA has not explained is the business judgment behind ending the project and closing the office. That leaves the announcement as both a workforce cut and a reset of BioWare’s place inside EA’s studios business.
