EA closed BioWare and canceled Mass Effect 5, with about 400 employees laid off
Electronic Arts is shutting down BioWare and ending development of the next Mass Effect. Bloomberg broke the story, and EA soon confirmed 400 layoffs, the studio closure, and the cancellation of the game in the works.
The changes are outlined in an internal email sent to staff by EA studios chief Cam Weber and COO David Tinson. The publisher reviewed its business and priorities. EA last reported 14,500 employees, so the cut of roughly 3% of its workforce affects about 400 people.
BioWare will close along with its office in Edmonton, Canada, after EA decided not to continue early development on the new Mass Effect. Leadership addressed the decision directly:
We made the decision not to continue this development, which means we are closing the studio and our Edmonton office. BioWare is a legendary studio that helped shape the RPG genre, and we do not take this decision lightly.
It is the first major move by EA since going private this summer. The reorganization also shrinks the Skate team, and EA promises to help affected employees find other positions within the company.
Leadership also pointed to the success of the shooter Battlefield 6. According to Weber and Tinson, the publisher learned a lot from the game launch and its run as a live service. Beyond future Battlefield entries, Respawn and DICE will team up on a new title. The game has not been officially named, but several sources say it is Star Wars: Battlefront 3 for Lucasfilm.
The closure ends a rough few years for BioWare. The studio created Dragon Age and Mass Effect, but the troubled launches of Anthem, Mass Effect: Andromeda, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard badly damaged its standing. EA acquired BioWare in 2007, the same year the first Mass Effect came out.
BioWare already went through major cuts in early 2025. After work on The Veilguard wrapped, some staff moved to other EA teams, while a small group of series veterans kept working on the foundation of the new Mass Effect. Bloomberg Jason Schreier reported at the time that the temporary transfers had become permanent and that fewer than 100 people remained at the studio.
The news arrives just a couple of weeks before N7 Day, the annual fan celebration of the series on November 7. The community had hoped to get new details about the next Mass Effect that day, though almost nothing is known about it so far.
