EA has announced a significant restructuring at BioWare, the studio behind Dragon Age and Mass Effect, shifting focus entirely to its upcoming Mass Effect game. In a recent blog post, BioWare's general manager Gary McKay explained that the studio is "taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work at BioWare." This shift means that not all of BioWare's current staff are needed for the Mass Effect project, leading EA to transition a number of developers into other roles within the company.
McKay noted that, "Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio. We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit." While some developers from the Dragon Age team are facing termination, they are being given the opportunity to apply for other positions within EA.
BioWare has undergone several restructurings in recent years, including layoffs in 2023 and a number of high-profile departures during the development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The most recent departure was director Corinne Busche, who announced her exit last week. The exact number of current employees at BioWare remains unclear. When IGN sought clarification from EA on the specifics of the restructuring, including the number of affected individuals, EA did not provide detailed figures. However, a spokesperson stated:
"The studio's priority was Dragon Age. During this time there were people continuing to build the vision for the next Mass Effect. Now that The Veilguard has shipped, the studio's full focus is Mass Effect. While we're not sharing numbers, the studio has the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development."
The new Mass Effect project, announced four years ago, is still in its early stages. BioWare's current approach is to concentrate on one game at a time. Developers who were previously moved from Mass Effect to Dragon Age to complete The Veilguard are now transitioning back to the Mass Effect team. The development of Mass Effect is being led by series veterans such as Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley.
This announcement follows last week's news that Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of its player targets by nearly 50%. This, along with underwhelming performance from EA Sports FC 25, prompted EA to adjust its fiscal year guidance. The company is scheduled to discuss its Q3 earnings on February 4.
