EA has closed BioWare, the 30-year-old game studio behind genre-defining role-playing games including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age. More than 400 people are losing their jobs. The studio's forthcoming Mass Effect sci-fi game, titled Mass Effect: Universe, has been cancelled.
BioWare had not released a critical or commercial hit in over a decade, according to the source material. Lucy James, the writer of this piece, notes that EA's parent company carries $20 billion in debt following a recent leveraged buyout involving Jared Kushner and the Saudi wealth fund. EA was seeking to reduce costs, and BioWare became a target despite its devoted fanbase.
The Mass Effect: Universe project was first announced in 2020. Though the studio released promotional material, the game remained years away from completion at the time of closure.
James, who has worked in video games for 15 years and followed BioWare for nearly two decades, describes the closure as a loss to the role-playing game landscape. She characterizes BioWare's output as defined by "complex characters and bold, choice-driven narratives."