Electronic Arts closes BioWare studio and cancels next Mass Effect game

Bloomberg reported that Electronic Arts will lay off roughly 400 employees and close its BioWare studio, while cancelling the next game in the Mass Effect franchise. BioWare confirmed the news on social media, stating: "After more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending."

The closure follows Electronic Arts' transition to private ownership through a $55 billion buyout led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, with support from Affinity Partners, a private equity firm owned by Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law. The acquisition saddled EA with $18 billion in debt and required the company's board to commit to $700 million in annual cost savings, targets that have already triggered multiple rounds of layoffs.

Electronic Arts acquired BioWare in 2007. The studio moved into live-service games with Star Wars: The Old Republic, a multiplayer online game released in 2011, and later with Anthem in 2019. Anthem's troubled development and buggy launch resulted in significant financial losses. Following Anthem's failure, BioWare shifted strategy for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, releasing it as a single-player experience rather than a live-service title. Nevertheless, the studio faced repeated layoffs both before and after Veilguard's release, and Electronic Arts reported that the game's sales had disappointed investors.