Summary
EA has recently announced thatBioWareis being restructured for the development of the nextMass Effectgame. With the disappointing sales ofDragon Age: The Veilguard, it seems likely thatBioWarewill undergo significant changes moving forward.
It’s safe to say that BioWare has not been in a good spot in recent years. Not only have its previous titles such asMass Effect AndromedaandAnthemfailed to meet critical acclaim, but the recentDragon Age: The Veilguardstruggled to achieve success after years of development. According to recent reports,Dragon Age: The Veilguardperformed below EA’s expectations, reaching only 1.5 million players in 2024, which was around only 50% of what the publisher expected.
Likely due to these recent results, BioWare is being restructured by EA, as shared in arecent blog postwritten by BioWare’s general manager, Gary McKay. According to the post, BioWare will not “require support from the full studio” at this stage of development, so multiple employees have been sent to other EA studios. With this move, McKay expects BioWare to “become a more agile, focused studio.”
EA Moves Some of BioWare’s Staff to Other Studios Amid Mass Effect 5’s Development
Fortunately, it does not seem that this means additional layoffs for BioWare yet. BioWare has already suffered a round of layoffs in 2023, when 50 jobs were eliminated. Recently,BioWare also lostDragon Agedirector Corinne Busche. However, it seems that Busche’s departure was not linked toThe Veilguard’s performance, but to a new job opportunity instead.
The restructuring makes sense, as it seems thatDragon Age: The Veilguardis complete after the latest update. Last week, this update added new quality-of-life features and fixed some bugs, and it seems likely that additional patches will only be released if more game-breaking glitches are discovered.
Moving forward, BioWare will be focused onthe development of the nextMass Effect, which was originally announced four years ago. The game will be in development by a team led by Mike Gamble, and it’s said to be in pre-production right now. It’s unclear whether the nextMass Effectwill continue theAndromedastoryline, the original trilogy, or if it will be a completely new story instead. Despite these changes, it’s likely that some employees may return to BioWare at a later date to help with development when the game is in a more advanced stage.Mass Effect 5still does not have a release date, but it’s very unlikely it’ll come out before 2027 at the very least, considering it’s in pre-production.
