With the enjoyable but ultimately underperforming Dragon Age The Veilguard now behind it, BioWare’s next mission is to create a stellar new entry in its beloved Mass Effect series. However, despite the game having been in pre-production for a few years now, it still seems it’s nowhere near ready to ramp up into full production. BioWare has just announced that while an experienced “core team” continues to work on the next Mass Effect game, it is restructuring the studio and is seeing many of its devs reallocated to work on other EA projects.
While Dragon Age The Veilguard shifted units and achieved some pretty high player counts at launch, there’s no escaping that it undersold in comparison to EA’s lofty targets for it and really split opinion among players and critics. The RPG’s poor commercial performance, alongside a drop-off in revenue from EA FC 25 over the last few months, has seen EA alter its financial forecast. Many have feared that BioWare may be in danger of more job losses or even a full studio closure in the wake of Dragon Age The Veilguard, even with a new Mass Effect game on the horizon.
Now, BioWare’s general manager Gary McKay has posted a new update about the state of the studio. Essentially, BioWare is being restructured and, ultimately, downsizing. McKay says that “we don’t require support from the full studio” on the next Mass Effect, explaining how it is still only at a stage where it needs a small team. This team is led by series veterans like Mike Gamble and Preston Watamaniuk. As a result, EA has shifted some of BioWare’s excess developers onto some of its other projects at other studios.
“We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit,” McKay says. “Today’s news will see BioWare become a more agile, focused studio that produces unforgettable RPGs. We appreciate your support as we build a new future for BioWare.”
There is no specific mention of employees being made redundant, only that they’ve been reallocated. Still, this represents a major downsizing for BioWare. Today’s announcement also paints a picture of just how far away the new Mass Effect is. It could be years before we even see it fully revealed, let alone play it.
In the meantime, here are some upcoming PC games that will be arriving much sooner. Our best space games guide is also packed with great titles that you can play right away.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or join our community Discord to stay in the know.