EA Closes BioWare as 400 Roles Are Cut Across the Publisher

Electronic Arts is closing BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, as part of a new round of layoffs that will eliminate 400 roles across the publisher. The news broke overnight and hit fans of the long-running role-playing franchises hard, since BioWare has been one of the best-known names in Western RPG development for two decades.

EA has confirmed that 50 BioWare workers are affected by the cuts. It also said Ripple Effect, the studio working on the Skate series, is being downsized. The company has not said where the other 350 positions will come from. Coverage of the announcement points to further cuts at Respawn, Maxis, Full Circle and EA Motive, but the details confirmed so far do not break the remaining roles down by studio.

The immediate picture is a closed BioWare, a smaller Ripple Effect, and a large number of jobs whose location is still unclear. Staff across EA's studios are likely to be watching for more specifics in the coming days, especially on which projects are being paused or cancelled.