Electronic Arts announced a large-scale restructuring of its gaming divisions. One of the main outcomes will be the closure of BioWare, a studio known for the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. The company has also decided to discontinue the development of the new Mass Effect.
According to Variety, EA employees learned about the upcoming changes from an internal letter by Cam Weber, President of the gaming division, and David Tinson, Chief Operating Officer.
The executives explained that EA intends to focus its resources on the most promising areas of the business and reduce the number of major projects being developed concurrently.
Specifically, the company decided to cease work on the new Mass Effect, which was in the early stages of production. Alongside this, EA will close BioWare itself and its office in Edmonton, Canada.
“BioWare is a legendary studio that helped shape the role-playing game genre. We came to this decision with difficulty,” stated the letter from the EA leadership.
It is worth remembering that BioWare has faced significant difficulties in recent years. Its latest game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, released in October 2024, failed to meet Electronic Arts' commercial expectations. After this, the publisher reduced the studio's team and focused the remaining developers on the new Mass Effect.
The closure of BioWare will be part of broader cuts at EA. According to Variety, the company intends to lay off about 3% of its staff. Previously, it employed 14,500 people, which means approximately 400 employees could be affected.
The restructuring will also impact other EA divisions. Specifically, the publisher intends to combine the efforts of Respawn Entertainment and DICE to develop a new shooter. According to Variety's sources, this is related to Star Wars: Battlefront 3, although the company has not officially announced the project yet.
Meanwhile, EA will continue to invest in Apex Legends, as well as the development of new Star Wars Jedi and Marvel’s Iron Man. Furthermore, the company will reassess the development plans for The Sims and skate.
It should be noted that this is the first major restructuring for Electronic Arts since the company transitioned to private ownership. In August 2026, the deal for its acquisition by a consortium of investors, including the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, was concluded. The deal was valued at 55 billion dollars.