RIP BioWare: EA shuts down storied RPG studio after over three decades

The legendary studio behind series like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is no more. BioWare announced via social media Wednesday afternoon that “after more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending.”

The official announcement was posted mere minutes after a Bloomberg report detailed 400 job cuts across BioWare parent company Electronic Arts, including 50 at BioWare, based on reports from “a person familiar with the company’s plans.”

“Across our portfolio, we’re making deliberate choices to align talent and investments where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth,” EA executives wrote in a message to staff, according to Bloomberg.

A long time coming

Following its 1995 founding in Edmonton, BioWare first came under the EA umbrella through a 2007 purchase, before Mass Effect and Dragon Age were even a thing. At the time, EA’s then-CEO, John Riccitiello, called BioWare one of “the most respected studios in the industry” that would “make a strong contribution to our strategic growth initiatives on quality, online gaming and developing new intellectual properties. We also expect this will drive long-term value for our shareholders.”

Of course, EA doesn’t have public stockholders anymore after a $55 billion deal led by Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners took the company private last year. At the time of that move, analysts told Ars to expect “layoffs, studio closures, and [selling] of IP” as the newly private and now heavily debt-ridden company put “a bigger focus on live services, more focus on annual sports franchises, [and] microtransactions” to help increase profits.