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EA Shuts Down BioWare and Cancels Next Mass Effect Game, Cutting About 400 Jobs

Electronic Arts is closing the BioWare studio and ending development on the next Mass Effect game, cutting roughly 400 jobs as it restructures after a $55 billion buyout that left the publisher with about $18 billion in debt.

By admin Oct. 22, 2026 · 10:43 AM ET 2 min read

A dark game development studio office at night, with rows of glowing monitors on long desks and empty chairs

Electronic Arts is shutting down BioWare, the studio behind the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises, and canceling the next Mass Effect game as part of a restructuring that will cut roughly 400 jobs.

BioWare announced its own closure Wednesday on social media, writing that “after more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending.” The studio said its focus is now on its staff and “supporting one another through this transition.”

An illustration of a large spaceship flying toward a ringed planet

Bloomberg reported that about 400 EA positions are being eliminated, roughly 3 percent of the company’s workforce, including around 50 at BioWare. In a company-wide announcement, EA executives Cam Weber and David Tinson said the publisher is redirecting investment toward franchises and projects with stronger growth potential. “BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly,” the two executives said.

Debt from the $55 billion buyout hangs over the cuts

The closure comes two months after EA went private in a $55 billion buyout led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. The deal closed in August 2026, and according to The Verge it left EA carrying about $18 billion in debt. Gamereactor reported that the debt carries interest payments of roughly $1.8 billion a year, and that EA promised investors about $700 million in annual cost reductions.

A developer's desk at night with a glowing monitor, keyboard, headphones and a mug, the office dark behind it

The staff letter said EA will keep investing in sports titles, Apex Legends and Battlefield, along with licensed action-adventure projects including the next Star Wars Jedi game and a Marvel Iron Man title. The executives called Battlefield 6 “a great success” and said EA would invest heavily in Apex in the coming years.

A studio that defined role-playing games

BioWare was founded in Canada in 1995 and acquired by EA in 2007. It built its name on story-driven role-playing games, including Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age and Mass Effect.

Stacked cardboard moving boxes in a dim, emptied office at dusk

Recent years were harder. Mass Effect: Andromeda, released in 2017, drew mixed reviews. The 2019 multiplayer shooter Anthem never found a lasting audience. Dragon Age: The Veilguard earned mostly positive reviews in 2024 but missed EA’s sales expectations, and EA downsized the studio last year to focus it on one project at a time.

The next Mass Effect was announced in 2020 and never received a release window. EA has not said whether another developer will take over the project, nor what becomes of support for the studio’s existing games, including The Veilguard and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Reporting based on coverage by Gamereactor and the Daily Caller.

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