The End of an RPG Legend: Electronic Arts is shutting down the long-standing development studio BioWare. About 400 employees are losing their jobs as part of a major restructuring.
Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect: Hardly any other development studio has shaped the role-playing genre as much as BioWare. But after more than three decades, it’s all over now.
Electronic Arts is closing the long-standing Canadian studio for good. As Bloomberg reports, the publisher is cutting approximately 400 jobs as part of a restructuring. This represents about three percent of the total workforce. About 50 of the affected employees work at BioWare. The long-standing office in Edmonton, Canada, will also be closed.
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The next Mass Effect has also been canceled
For RPG fans, things are getting even worse: The long-awaited Mass Effect 5 has also been canceled.
In an internal memo obtained by Variety, EA executives Cam Weber and David Tinson explain that, in recent times, only a small team had been working on the RPG. It has now been decided not to continue development. This decision also entails the closure of BioWare and its Edmonton office.
Back in December 2020, BioWare had announced the sequel with a first teaser:
As recently as November 2025, Executive Producer Mike Gamble explicitly assured fans that the new Mass Effect was still in development and that the entire studio was working on it. Less than a year later, nothing remains of that.
It is currently unclear what the future holds for the two major role-playing game franchises, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. The cancellation of the new game does not, however, automatically mean that EA is permanently abandoning the entire series.
From Acclaimed RPG Studio to the Final Curtain Call
BioWare was founded in 1995 by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. With Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Knights of the Old Republic, the studio became one of the most respected role-playing game developers in the world.
In 2008, BioWare became part of Electronic Arts. Later, the team celebrated further major successes with Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
In recent years, however, things have gone increasingly downhill. The controversial *Mass Effect: Andromeda* was followed in 2019 by the failed online game *Anthem*. *Dragon Age: The Veilguard* also failed to meet EA’s financial expectations.
By early 2025, BioWare had already been drastically downsized. Following layoffs and the transfer of numerous employees to other EA studios, fewer than 100 employees remained.
BioWare Says Goodbye with Emotional Words
BioWare has since spoken out on X itself and confirmed the closure: In an emotional farewell post, the studio reflects on its more than 30-year history and the people who made it possible.
BioWare was far more than just a development studio during this time: “a home for storytellers, developers, and players who breathed life into the worlds we created.”
The focus now is on supporting the talented developers who poured so much heart and soul into the games. BioWare also thanks the fans who, across generations, have experienced adventures, discussed choices, and fallen in love with the characters.
