Legendary video game studio BioWare closed after 31 years
The influential studio that made Mass Effect and Dragon Age announces it is closing its doors.
Legendary video game studio BioWare shuts down after 31 years
BioWare created Mass Effect, the influential sci-fi role-playing game
BioWare, the game studio behind the sci-fi saga Mass Effect and the fantasy series Dragon Age, has been shut down.
The Canadian developer, which specialised in role-playing games, was established in 1995 and won millions of fans with its intricate, branching storylines.
Its final two releases, though, fell short of sales targets, and parent company Electronic Arts (EA) said it had chosen to close the studio as it eliminated 400 jobs across the company.
In its own statement, BioWare, which had been developing a new Mass Effect game, thanked players for "being the most important part of the story" throughout its 31-year history.
The studio’s first major success came in 1998 with the release of Baldur's Gate, a role-playing game based on Dungeons and Dragons rules.
It later became known for the quality of its games and, in the late 2000s, enjoyed major twin successes with the Mass Effect trilogy and several Dragon Age titles.
Mass Effect in particular is seen as having had a lasting impact on the video game industry because of its ambitious storytelling and inclusion of same-sex relationships.
As industry trends shifted, BioWare moved from single-player to multiplayer games with the 2019 release of Anthem, which disappointed both fans and critics.
It then released Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the fourth game in the series, in 2024.
The game’s lengthy development process was blamed for its muted reviews, especially from long-time fans of the series, who said it lacked the complex moral choices of earlier entries.
BioWare's most recent release, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, did not meet EA's expectations
The studio’s closure comes months after EA — the video game giant behind series including EA FC, The Sims and Battlefield — was bought for $55bn by a Saudi Arabia-led group of investors.
Under the deal, EA took on $20bn in debt, which the company will need to repay.
In a message to staff, later published on its website, the company said it had taken a "hard look" at its business and decided to concentrate on key titles and franchises.
That meant focusing on "fewer simultaneous, large-scale projects in the action-adventure space", it said, while confirming that a new Iron Man game and a Star Wars Jedi title were in development.
The company also said it had two projects underway under its EA Sports label, including a "social-first" American Football game codenamed "Project Gridiron", and said it was in the early stages of bringing back boxing simulator Fight Night.
EA also said it remained committed to the long-term success of skateboarding simulator Skate and The Sims.
However, it did announce the cancellation of one new Sims project, and said there would be job cuts at Skate developer Full Circle.
The company said BioWare was "a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly".