Publisher Electronic Arts (EA) is shutting down popular game development studio BioWare as part of its company restructuring.
In a memo to employees, EA executives Cam Weber and David Tinson said the gaming industry was changing rapidly, with players having more choices and competition intensifying.
“Our greatest opportunity starts with our franchises and global communities that have made EA a leader in interactive entertainment,” they said. “Saying no to some things we’re passionate about allows us to focus our teams and resources so we give our biggest opportunities everything they need to succeed.”
‘More than a studio’
The game developer, known for “Mass Effect,” “Dragon Age,” “Baldur’s Gate,” and “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic,” among others, stated that the studio has also been a “home for storytellers, developers, and the players who brought our worlds to life.”
“There is nothing easy about writing those words. Our focus right now is on our incredibly talented team who put their hearts into these games, and supporting one another through this transition,” the studio wrote.
“What generations of BioWare built together is something to celebrate and remember. These games became so much more because you played them, debated your choices, fell in love with the characters, and made these worlds your own.”
“From all of us at BioWare, thank you for being the most meaningful part of our story,” it concluded.
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“Mass Effect 5” scrapped
BioWare and EA also revealed that the latest installment of “Mass Effect” has been scrapped.
The publisher said a small BioWare team had been working on early development of “Mass Effect 5,” first announced in 2020, before the company decided not to proceed, leading to the studio’s closure and the shutdown of its Edmonton workspace.
Reports said BioWare allegedly had a trailer ready for “Mass Effect 5” before the studio’s closure.
The canceled game was expected to return to the Milky Way setting hundreds of years after “Mass Effect 3,” following years of teasers about its story and setting.
Despite that, the live-action “Mass Effect” series at Amazon MGM Studios remains in development, with sources inside Prime Video confirming the news.
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End of an era
After the shocking update, the video game world united in mourning BioWare’s closure.
Fans and industry veterans stressed how BioWare helped popularize choice-driven game design through its IPs.
Michal Nowakowski, co-CEO of “The Witcher” maker CD Projekt Red, said BioWare had a “massive part” in shaping the Polish game studio’s history.
He also shared how BioWare shared its engine with them for the development of “The Witcher 1.”
CD Projekt Red’s Satoru Homma, producer of “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners,” also shared how BioWare changed his life.
“Without BioWare, ‘Edgerunners’ might not have existed,” he wrote.
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