No More Mass Effect, No Team for Dragon Age

EA is closing BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Knights of the Old Republic. The next Mass Effect is cancelled, and nobody is left to make another Dragon Age.

EA announced the closure today as part of a restructuring that cuts about 3% of its workforce, roughly 400 jobs. It is the company's first big move since going private this summer. BioWare was already down to a small team working only on Mass Effect, after the Dragon Age crew moved over to it. The closure follows a year of shutdowns that took Anthem's servers offline in January and ended Dragon Age: Inquisition's co-op in April. I also get into whether Mass Effect and Dragon Age could land with another developer, and how long that might take.

• 0:00 EA Is Closing BioWare
• 0:10 Mass Effect Cancelled, Dragon Age Stranded
• 0:21 EA Cuts 400 Jobs
• 0:36 Anthem, Inquisition, and What's Next

Key takeaways

• BioWare is closing along with its Edmonton office.
• The next Mass Effect, still in early development, is cancelled.
• EA is laying off about 3% of its staff, around 400 people, in its first major move since going private.
• Mass Effect and Dragon Age stay with EA for now, with no word on a sale or a new studio.

"This is a legendary game studio. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Knights of the Old Republic." (Frank)

"Mass Effect and Dragon Age are really successful titles. They could find new developers." (Frank)

"I just don't think we're going to see anything like that for ten years." (Frank)

Source: Variety, EA internal memo from Cam Weber and David Tinson, October 21, 2026. More at GeekFreaksPodcast.com

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Which studio would you hand Mass Effect to if EA sold it?What was the first BioWare game you played?