Electronic Arts, a prominent video game publisher, has made the decision to close BioWare, a well-known game development studio based in Edmonton, after over thirty years of operation. The closure announcement came following a report by Bloomberg indicating that Electronic Arts is laying off approximately 400 employees, with around 50 of those being from BioWare. This news also confirmed the cancellation of the upcoming installment in the Mass Effect series, which would have been the fifth game since the series’ inception in 2007.
Founded in 1995, BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2007. Trent Oster, co-founder of BioWare, expressed his sadness about the closure, stating, “It’s a pretty sad day… 30 plus years ago we built something I think was pretty awesome. And it’s pretty sad to see the end of the dream.” The closure comes after Electronic Arts finalized a $55 billion sale of its business to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF, investment firm Silver Lake Partners, and Affinity Partners, which is connected to Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
BioWare, renowned for its immersive role-playing games like Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect, has left a lasting impact on the gaming industry. The studio’s shift towards multiplayer shooters with the release of Anthem in 2019 deviated from its strength in creating captivating single-player narratives, leading to a lack of sustained popularity compared to online games like Fortnite and Overwatch.
The most recent entries in BioWare’s flagship franchises, namely 2017’s Mass Effect: Andromeda and 2024’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard, received mixed reviews and failed to meet fan expectations. Despite this, a new Mass Effect game was in the works before the studio’s closure was announced, keeping hope alive for fans of the series. The closure of BioWare marks the end of an era for the renowned game development studio.