EA is closing BioWare: what happened to the Mass Effect studio

BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, is closing after more than 30 years. Electronic Arts announced it on October 21, 2026, and the next Mass Effect game was cancelled with it. Here's what happened, what EA and BioWare said, and how the games industry reacted.

Last updated October 22, 2026. This is a developing story.

What happened

On October 21, 2026, Electronic Arts told staff it is closing BioWare and its studio in Edmonton, Canada. A small BioWare team had been in early development on a new Mass Effect game, and EA decided not to continue it.

The closure is part of a wider round of cuts. According to Bloomberg's reporting, EA is laying off about 400 people, roughly 3% of its workforce, including around 50 at BioWare.

What EA said

The news came in an internal letter from EA's chief operating officer David Tinson and chief studios officer Cam Weber, as reported by Bloomberg and other outlets. They wrote that EA had decided not to move forward with the Mass Effect project, which means closing the studio and its Edmonton workspace. EA described the cuts as saying no to some things it cares about, so it can focus on its biggest opportunities.

What BioWare said

BioWare confirmed the news on X. The studio said that after more than three decades it is closing, and that early development on the next Mass Effect is ending. It thanked players and said its games became more than games because players debated their choices and made those worlds their own.

What else EA is cutting, and what it's keeping

• The Sims: a new Sims project known as Project Lotus is paused.
• Skate: the team working on Skate is being reduced.

EA says it will keep investing in EA Sports, Battlefield and Apex Legends, plus licensed projects including the next Star Wars Jedi game and Marvel's Iron Man.

Why now

The cuts come about two months after EA went private. In August 2026, EA completed its roughly $55 billion sale to a group led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), together with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. Gamereactor and others report that the deal left EA with around $18 billion of debt. Reporting also suggests more cuts may follow.

How the games industry reacted

• Casey Hudson, who directed the original Mass Effect trilogy, called it "sad news on multiple fronts," for the people who worked at BioWare and for its fans. He said the studio's legacy will live on through the people who were part of it, and he credited BioWare's founders, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk.
• Catherynne M. Valente, a former Mass Effect writer, publicly defended the cancelled project, saying the team had been working on a great game.
• Other studios, including Larian (Baldur's Gate 3) and CD Projekt Red (The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077), as well as The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley, paid tribute to BioWare and its influence on RPGs.

BioWare's legacy

BioWare was founded in 1995 in Edmonton and became one of the most respected RPG studios in the world. Its games include:

• Baldur's Gate (1998) and Baldur's Gate II (2000)
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
• Jade Empire (2005)
• The Mass Effect trilogy (2007 to 2012) and Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017)
• The Dragon Age series, from Dragon Age: Origins (2009) to Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024)

EA bought BioWare in 2007. In recent years the studio struggled, with Anthem (2019) and Dragon Age: The Veilguard not meeting EA's expectations.

What happens to Mass Effect and Dragon Age?

EA still owns both series. So far it hasn't announced any plan for them. For now, the next Mass Effect is cancelled, and there's no word on whether another studio will ever continue either franchise.

My take

As someone building a small fantasy RPG myself, this one hurts. BioWare's games are a big reason many of us fell in love with story-driven RPGs: the choices, the companions, the worlds you could shape. I'll update this article as EA and BioWare share more.