THE CRUNCH
BioWare, the studio behind Baldur's Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age and Mass Effect, is shutting down, and EA has cancelled the next Mass Effect game that was in early development. The closure comes as EA cuts around 400 jobs company-wide, including roughly 50 at BioWare, in a restructuring announced by chief studios officer Cam Weber and COO David Tinson.
Founded in 1995 by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, BioWare spent more than 30 years shaping the role-playing genre before being acquired by EA in 2007. "What generations of BioWare built together is something to celebrate and remember," the studio said in its farewell statement.
The end follows a difficult stretch: Mass Effect: Andromeda was widely seen as a misstep in 2017, the live-service bet on Anthem did not pay off, and EA laid off BioWare staff in 2025 after Dragon Age: The Veilguard missed sales expectations. The next Mass Effect had been teased in 2020, and in 2025 BioWare said a core team at the studio was working on it after layoffs.
The restructuring comes after a $55 billion deal led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners took the publisher private in August. Beyond BioWare, EA is pausing a Sims project called Project Lotus to focus on Project Evergreen, trimming the Skate studio, and bringing Respawn and DICE together to collaborate on a future project that Bloomberg reports is likely a new Star Wars: Battlefront game. Marvel's Iron Man and a third Star Wars Jedi title are unaffected.
One loose end: the fate of Amazon's Mass Effect TV series remains unclear, with an EA spokesperson saying there was nothing to share at this point.
Key dates
BioWare: key dates from founding to closure era
1995
BioWare founded by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip
2007
BioWare acquired by EA
2020
The next Mass Effect game first teased
2025
EA laid off BioWare staff
Dates from TechPowerUp, PC Gamer, as quoted in this brief.