BioWare Closes After 31 Years: The End of the Studio Behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age

BioWare, the Edmonton studio that made Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, is closing, and the next Mass Effect game has been cancelled. Here is how the studio got here and what happens to its people and games.

Oct 27, 2026 - 20:07

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BioWare, one of the most influential role-playing game studios in the industry, is closing after 31 years. "After more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending," the studio wrote on its blog on Oct. 21, 2026.

Its owner, Electronic Arts, announced the closure in a memo to staff the same day. "BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly," wrote EA executives Cam Weber and David Tinson. EA is also closing BioWare's workspace in Edmonton, Alberta, where the studio was founded.

From Edmonton to the top of the genre

BioWare was founded in Edmonton in 1995. Its co-founders included Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, who stayed until 2012. Its first big hit was Baldur's Gate in 1998, a role-playing game built on Dungeons & Dragons rules. Neverwinter Nights followed, and in 2003 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic became one of the best-remembered Star Wars games.

EA bought the studio in 2007, before either of its best-known series existed. Then-CEO John Riccitiello called BioWare one of "the most respected studios in the industry."

The Mass Effect trilogy and the Dragon Age games made BioWare's name in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The BBC notes that Mass Effect is widely seen as a lasting influence on the industry for its ambitious, branching story and for including same-sex relationships. Both series were known for letting players make choices that carried from one game to the next.

A decade of setbacks

The trouble started in the 2010s. Mass Effect: Andromeda in 2017 was widely seen as a misstep for the series. Anthem, a 2019 online shooter, was BioWare's biggest bet on live-service games, and it never found an audience. EA ended active development in February 2021 and shut down its servers on Jan. 12, 2026, which left the online-only game unplayable.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard came out in October 2024 after a long development. EA said it reached about 1.5 million players in its first quarter, nearly 50% below expectations.

Senior staff also left over those years. Executive producer Casey Hudson left in 2014, came back in 2017 and left again in 2020. Longtime Mass Effect producer Mac Walters departed in 2023.

Already a smaller studio

BioWare had been shrinking for some time. In January 2025, general manager Gary McKay said only a "core team" was needed for the next Mass Effect, and that the studio had worked to match other employees "with other teams at EA that had open roles." Bloomberg reported that about two dozen people lost their jobs, leaving BioWare with fewer than 100 employees, down from more than 200 two years earlier.

When the closure was announced, Weber and Tinson described the Mass Effect group as "a small team at BioWare working on early-development."

What happens to the staff

Bloomberg reported that EA is cutting about 400 jobs company-wide, including roughly 50 at BioWare, citing a person familiar with the plans. EA has not confirmed those figures. The memo says EA will "support impacted employees in exploring other opportunities within EA" and treat them "with care and respect," but it does not say how many will be offered other roles. EA has scheduled a Global Town Hall in November to discuss the changes.

BioWare's own message focused on its staff: "Our focus right now is on our incredibly talented team who put their hearts into these games, and supporting one another through this transition."

Project director Mike Gamble thanked fans for "words of support for the studio, the legacy, and the impact that BioWare has had on you," the BBC reported.

What happens to Mass Effect and Dragon Age

The closure ends the next Mass Effect game, which EA first teased more than four years before the 2025 restructuring. EA still owns the Mass Effect and Dragon Age names and has not said whether any other studio will make games in either series.

The planned Mass Effect TV series for Amazon appears to be moving ahead. Amazon MGM Studios declined to comment to The Verge, and an EA spokesperson said there was "nothing to share on that at this point," but IGN reported that evening that the show is still in development.

Fans and colleagues responded quickly. Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer, who voiced the female and male versions of Commander Shepard, held an Instagram livestream. "BioWare lives on. Mass Effect lives on. We live on," Hale said. Michał Nowakowski, co-CEO of The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red, said BioWare had been "a massive part" of his studio's history, the BBC reported.

Part of a wider wave

BioWare's closure is one part of a broader overhaul at EA, its first since investors led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners took the company private in August. EA is pausing a Sims project, shrinking the skate. team and bringing Respawn and DICE together on a new shooter. Variety, citing multiple sources, reported that the shooter is Star Wars: Battlefront 3; EA has not confirmed it.

Other big studios have also cut deeply this year. The Verge cited Xbox's "reset," which includes 3,200 job cuts, "significant" layoffs at Bungie and more than 1,000 layoffs at Fortnite maker Epic Games.

BioWare signed off with a note to players: "From all of us at BioWare, thank you for being the most meaningful part of our story."