The game industry has received some genuinely grim news. BioWare, the legendary studio behind the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, has officially announced the end of its more than 30-year run as a developer. Yet in that same breath of bad news, parent company EA fired off an internal memo calling itself “the number one publisher in the western high-fidelity games market” and telling employees they should feel proud of that. The contrast is so stark that describing EA’s message as “standing on BioWare’s grave” hardly feels like an exaggeration.
EA’s Axe Falls on Its Own Studios
According to an internal announcement published by EA on October 21, the company has decided to halt development on the next Mass Effect and to formally close BioWare along with its Edmonton workplace in Canada. Outside reports indicate that this restructuring round is expected to cut roughly 400 jobs, with around 50 of those coming from BioWare specifically. EA’s stated reasoning is that it will now concentrate resources on projects with more growth potential and reduce the number of big-budget titles it runs simultaneously. The official line is that this was a hard but necessary call, but for players who have been waiting on a new Mass Effect, “strategic adjustment” is not going to be much of a consolation.
Shooters and Sports Games Are the New Favourites
EA will keep pouring money into shooters such as Battlefield and Apex Legends, and has lined up Respawn and DICE to co-develop new projects. EA SPORTS FC, The Sims and a new generation of Star Wars Jedi games are also still on the roadmap. EA wants to concentrate its resources to hold onto its market leadership, but with BioWare closed and a classic RPG sequel cancelled, the company’s loud claim to first place lands uncomfortably well. After all, for most players, the publisher’s market ranking matters far less than whether the game worlds they have spent years living in will ever get a proper continuation.