EA CLOSES BIOWARE AND ENDS NEXT MASS EFFECT PROJECT

EA has confirmed that it is closing BioWare as part of cost-cutting measures. The entire team at the development studio has been let go. The closure followed a report on 21 October that EA would cut 400 jobs, around 3 per cent of its workforce. In a memo to staff, EA executives Cam Weber and David Tinson attributed the job cuts to changes in the industry.

BioWare said it had operated for more than 30 years and described the studio as a home for storytellers, developers and players. Its games include Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Anthem. The team said its immediate focus was supporting staff through the closure. “There is nothing easy about writing those words,” BioWare said in its statement.

BioWare said early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending. EA’s planned sale, confirmed last year, involves investors including Jared Kushner, chief executive of Affinity Partners, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The deal carries a reported value of more than $55 billion. BioWare thanked players for playing its games, debating their choices and making their fictional worlds their own.