BioWare Scales Back on Mass Effect 5, EA Reassigns Staff

Electronic Arts has announced a restructuring of BioWare, the studio behind Dragon Age and Mass Effect. As part of this shift, a number of developers will transition to other projects within EA, with the studio now focusing entirely on the next installment of the Mass Effect series.

In a blog post from General Manager Gary McKay, he stated that the studio is "using this period between major development cycles to rethink our operational approach at BioWare."

"At this current phase of the project, we don't need the support of the entire studio," McKay continued. "We have exceptional talent at BioWare, and over the past few months, we have worked diligently to match many of our team members with other groups at EA where there were open positions that aligned well with their skills."

IGN has learned that EA has already reassigned an unspecified number of BioWare developers to equivalent roles elsewhere in the company. A smaller group of Dragon Age team members are facing role eliminations and are being given time to apply for other internal positions if they wish.

BioWare's organizational structure has undergone multiple changes in recent years. The studio conducted a round of layoffs in 2023 and has experienced several high-profile departures throughout the development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The most recent was director Corinne Busche, who left the studio last week. The current total number of employees at BioWare is unclear. IGN reached out to EA for comment and specifics regarding how many individuals are affected by this restructuring, how many are at risk of layoffs, and how many will remain. EA declined to provide specific figures, but a spokesperson offered this statement:

"The studio's priority was Dragon Age. Throughout this period, a team was also building the vision for the next Mass Effect. Now that The Veilguard has been released, the studio's complete focus is on Mass Effect.

"While we are not sharing specific numbers, the studio has the appropriate staffing in the right roles to advance Mass Effect at its current stage of development."

The new Mass Effect title was announced four years ago and remains in early development. IGN understands that BioWare's current strategy is to concentrate on one major project at a time. Some developers previously working on Mass Effect were moved to Dragon Age to help complete that project and are now returning to the Mass Effect team. According to the blog post, development of the new Mass Effect is now being led by series veterans including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley.

This announcement follows last week's news that Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of its player targets by nearly 50%, contributing to EA's reduced guidance for the fiscal year—a decision also heavily influenced by weaker-than-expected performance from EA Sports FC 25. The company will hold its Q3 earnings conference call on February 4.