EA Is Shutting Down BioWare and Canceling the Next Mass Effect

BioWare is closing. The studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic posted the news on October 21. Its statement said that "BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending" (VGC). In plain terms, the Mass Effect game teased back in 2020 is gone, along with the studio that was developing it.

The closure is part of a larger restructuring at Electronic Arts. EA is laying off about 400 people, roughly 3% of the company. Bloomberg's source says about 50 of those jobs were at BioWare (Gematsu). In a letter to employees, chief studios officer Cam Weber and chief operating officer David Tinson wrote that "over the past several months, we've taken a hard look at our business."

BioWare's own announcement was short and honest. "There is nothing easy about writing those words," the studio wrote. Its focus now is on "supporting one another through this transition" (Game Developer). The post also said that "What generations of BioWare built together is something to celebrate and remember" (PC Gamer).

This is the official teaser BioWare premiered at The Game Awards in 2020. It's now the last look we'll get at that game.

What else is EA canceling, and what is it keeping?

The staff memo opens with "Today, we're the number one publisher in Western HD gaming." That's a rough line to read on the day BioWare closes (Kotaku). Along with Mass Effect, EA paused a Sims project called Project Lotus. It's also reducing the Skate team at Full Circle to a smaller group. The company says it's still making Battlefield, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi 3, Marvel's Iron Man, its sports games and a new Sims project called Project Evergreen. Respawn and DICE are also teaming up on a new shooter that Bloomberg's sources say is likely Star Wars: Battlefront 3 (we covered that one here).

The cuts come two months after EA's sale to a group led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund closed. That $55 billion buyout left EA carrying roughly $18 billion in debt. The company had already announced plans to find about $700 million in savings (VGC).

How did BioWare get here?

Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk were doctors with no game industry experience. They started BioWare in Edmonton in 1995 with Augustine Yip (Game Informer). Baldur's Gate revitalized computer role-playing games in 1998. The studio followed it with Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. EA bought BioWare in 2007 for $860 million, the same year the first Mass Effect came out. Dragon Age: Origins arrived two years later.

The last decade was considerably harder on the studio. Mass Effect: Andromeda landed with a thud in 2017. Anthem, BioWare's big live service shooter, never caught on, and its servers went dark on January 12, 2026 (Gamereactor). Dragon Age: The Veilguard released in 2024 and, by EA's own account, underperformed commercially. After another round of layoffs in 2025, BioWare said a "core team" was still working on the next Mass Effect (PC Gamer).

What happens to Mass Effect and Dragon Age now?

Nobody knows yet, honestly. EA hasn't said whether it will shelve the Mass Effect and Dragon Age names, hand them to another studio or license them out. None of the reports so far answer that question (Game Developer). For now, nothing suggests the games you already own are affected.

The reaction across social media has been brutal. Circana analyst Mat Piscatella summed it up on Bluesky with "It's all being burned to the ground" (Kotaku).

My read is that this one hurts because BioWare made the games where your decisions followed you, from the Revan reveal in Knights of the Old Republic to the suicide mission at the end of Mass Effect 2. For a lot of us, those squadmates felt like REAL friends (and yes, we're still a little mad about what happened to the first Normandy). Our thoughts are with everyone at BioWare and across Electronic Arts who lost their jobs today.

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Header image and Garrus screenshot are official Mass Effect Legendary Edition images from BioWare and EA, via Steam. The Dragon Age: The Veilguard screenshot is from BioWare and EA, via Steam.