EA is also cancelling a planned Sims game.
Electronic Arts is reportedly initiating a new wave of layoffs and shutting down BioWare, the legendary game studio behind RPG franchises like Dragon Age and Mass Effect. According to a Bloomberg report, EA is cutting 3% of its total staff, including roughly 50 jobs at BioWare. EA is also cancelling a planned Sims game and pivoting to another title called “Project Evergreen.”
BioWare has released a statement to confirm its closure:
Why is BioWare getting shut down?
Electronic Arts’ is reportedly unfolding a wave of layoffs that will see around 400 job cuts, following the company’s prolific US$55 billion leveraged buyout led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The buyout led the company to go private.
A letter released to EA’s staff written by company CEO David Tinson and CSO Cam Weber (via Variety) confirmed plans to cut several game projects after taking “a hard look at our business.” These cancelled game projects include the next Mass Effect game, which was originally announced all the way back in 2020.
In the letter, EA also stated that it was cancelling a planned Sims game entitled Project Lotus, and was instead moving forward with a different title code-named Project Evergreen. The Sims’ upcoming “mobile-first” title Project Rene was not mentioned. As for the multiplayer game skate., the game’s development team is getting downsized, but work on the project will continue.
EA also affirmed that it would continue “investing” in its sports games with two new projects including “a brand-new, social-first open-world experience for our American Football team” called Project Gridiron, and a new Fight Night. Apex Legends is also getting “brand new gameplay modes in multiplayer, and other new experiences, to expand the universe.”
More action-adventure games are in the works, including a Star Wars Jedi sequel, and Marvel’s Iron Man. The company also mentioned learning from Battlefield 6's success to grow its shooter portfolio, and that Respawn and DICE will collaborate on an all-new project. The latter was reported to “likely” be a new Star Wars Battlefront game, following rumours earlier this week.
The email reportedly read: “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.”
BioWare was founded all the way back in 1995, before it was eventually acquired by EA in 2007. Under EA, it would release new entries in the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises, along with Star Wars: The Old Republic and Anthem. Its final game would be Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a sequel to Dragon Age: Inquisition.
