EA is shutting down BioWare in baffling decision, 400 jobs cut globally
EA has decided to cancel Mass Effect, shut down BioWare, and lay off hundreds of devs across the world
Initially reported by Bloomberg, EA has made the decision to lay off 3% of its global workforce and shut down legendary studio BioWare, creators of Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age.
This comes via a company-wide memo from Cam Weber, president and CSO, and David Tinson, president and COO. This brings sweeping changes to the company's operations, including the cancellation of the upcoming Mass Effect game. The executives said in the memo that they understand the pedigree that BioWare has built over the last 30 years. Despite this, they are closing the studio and its Edmonton offices. They say they "do not take this decision lightly." Bioware posted a statement to social media platforms that can be seen below.
Instead, the company will continue to focus on initiatives like their sports games, of which they have a title in the works they describe as a "brand-new, social-first open-world experience for our American Football team." The company also teased the return of the dormant Fight Night franchise, which hasn't seen an entry since 2011.
Apex Legends will also see expansion in the future with Respawn "introducing brand new gameplay modes in multiplayer, and other new experiences, to expand the universe." The timeline on these "new experiences" was not provided. [Editor's Note: referencing this IP as Apex and not Titanfall kinda sucks. -Austin] Respawn and DICE are also going to be teaming up on a new project, and while EA hasn't commented on what that title will be, all signs point to a recently rumored Star Wars: Battlefront entry.
Other IP, like skate. and The Sims, will also continue to be developed by their respective teams. The team working on Skate will remain small and continue to provide live service updates to the game. For The Sims, "Project Evergreen" will be the focus of the team working on the IP, shelving the "Project Lotus" mobile game to make that happen.
All of this comes just two months after the closing of EA's private equity buyout by the Saudi Arabian government's investment fund for $55 billion, which the latter then turned around and slapped $18 billion in debt on the company.
I know you're just as tired of reading about the horrible state of the industry right now as I am writing about it. It seems like we can't make it a few weeks without hundred of people, or more, getting laid off. Hopefully this turns around before the whole things falls out.
