Electronic Arts is closing BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and cancelling early development of the next Mass Effect game. The decision was announced on 21 October 2026, as EA prepares to cut around 400 jobs across the company, including roughly 50 at BioWare, according to Bloomberg.
The closure brings an end to more than three decades of RPG development at BioWare and leaves Mass Effect without an announced successor project. EA says it is concentrating its resources on fewer large-scale games, while continuing work on Marvel’s Iron Man, the next Star Wars Jedi and several established franchises.
BioWare closes as EA cuts hundreds of jobs
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported that the planned cuts amount to approximately 3% of EA’s workforce. Around 50 employees at BioWare are affected, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans. EA’s public announcement did not provide its own breakdown of the layoffs.
In a message to employees, EA confirmed it would close BioWare and its Edmonton workspace. The publisher said the remaining team had been developing Mass Effect at an early stage but that the company had decided not to proceed.
EA says it will help affected employees explore other opportunities within the company. BioWare’s farewell message focused on its developers and thanked the players who helped shape its games over the past 31 years.
The next Mass Effect was still moving forward in 2025
The cancelled project was first discussed publicly in November 2020, when then-studio head Casey Hudson revealed that a veteran team was exploring the next chapter of Mass Effect. A teaser followed at The Game Awards that December, although BioWare described the project as being in pre-production.
After Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched, BioWare underwent a major restructuring. On 29 January 2025, general manager Gary McKay said a smaller core team would continue Mass Effect under veterans including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts and Parrish Ley. Other employees had been matched with roles elsewhere at EA because the project did not yet require the full studio.
BioWare was still publicly committed to the game less than a year before its cancellation. In a 7 November 2025 update, executive producer Mike Gamble confirmed that development was continuing and said the team was focused exclusively on Mass Effect.
Less than a year after BioWare’s public reassurance, EA cancelled the game. It had no announced release date or platforms, and no other studio has been named to continue it.
On 22 October, former BioWare cinematic supervisor Tony de Waal offered a glimpse of what the team had hoped to build. According to PC Gamer’s account of his LinkedIn post, the developers had been studying the approaches of Larian Studios and CD Projekt Red as they explored greater player choice and narrative freedom. His comments describe the team’s ambitions, rather than completed features from a playable game.
Iron Man and Star Wars Jedi continue as EA reshapes its portfolio
While BioWare is closing, EA is keeping several major projects in development.
- Marvel’s Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi: both remain in development. EA says it will focus on fewer simultaneous large-scale action-adventure games.
- Battlefield and Apex Legends: EA plans further Battlefield releases and additional investment in Apex. Respawn and DICE will also collaborate on an unnamed future project.
- The Sims: Project Evergreen will receive priority, while development on Project Lotus is being paused.
- skate.: a smaller development team will work on a more focused roadmap.
- EA SPORTS: new projects include Project Gridiron, a social-focused American football experience, and the return of Fight Night, which is in pre-production.
EA’s continuing support for Battlefield includes updates to Battlefield 6, such as the changes to recoil, muzzle velocity and weapon damage previously announced for the game. Those updates are separate from the new Respawn-DICE collaboration, whose identity remains unconfirmed.
What happens to Mass Effect, Dragon Age and the Amazon series?
The cancellation applies to the Mass Effect game that BioWare had been developing. EA has not announced a new developer, a replacement game or a future release plan. It also has not announced the permanent retirement or sale of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises.
The Mass Effect television adaptation being developed with Amazon is a separate project. In November 2025, Gamble said the series would tell an original story set after the events of the first three games, rather than retell Commander Shepard’s story.
The 21 October closure announcements made no mention of the television series.
EA’s $55 billion takeover preceded the closure
EA completed its $55 billion acquisition by an investor group led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, alongside Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, on 4 August 2026. BioWare’s closure was announced less than three months later.
The studio’s difficulties and restructuring, however, predate the completed transaction. BioWare had already reduced the team working on Mass Effect in January 2025, months before the acquisition agreement was announced.
EA says it is concentrating resources on fewer projects. It has not attributed BioWare’s closure to a decision by any individual investor.
BioWare’s closure ends a 31-year RPG legacy
Founded in 1995, BioWare helped establish a style of role-playing game built around memorable companions, player decisions and stories that could change according to those choices. Its early catalogue included Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, followed by Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
EA announced its agreement to acquire BioWare and Pandemic Studios in October 2007, completing the transaction on 4 January 2008.
The studio’s later history was less consistent. Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem struggled to meet expectations, while Dragon Age: The Veilguard became BioWare’s final released game. Those setbacks formed part of the studio’s recent history, although they do not establish a single cause for EA’s closure decision.
Until recently, the next Mass Effect was BioWare’s remaining chance to continue its best-known science-fiction series with an established team. Now that team and its project are being shut down. EA still owns the franchise, but no new Mass Effect game is currently announced as being in development elsewhere.
Sources: BioWare, Electronic Arts and Bloomberg News.