Summary
- It has been reported that several BioWare developers that were temporarily moved onto different projects within EA have been told their moves are now permanent.
- According to a report from Jason Schreier, BioWare’s numbers have been slashed so much that less than half of the studio’s 200-person development team now remains.
- Those left at BioWare are reportedly veterans of the studio that worked on the original Mass Effect trilogy, and that the plan is to expand once Mass Effect 5 requires more developers.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard developer BioWare needed the game to be a smash hit, following two complete disasters in Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem. While it was generally quite liked by many, it still ended up disappointing publisher Electronic Arts, falling below its expected player count by a whopping 50 percent.
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Now that the dust has settled, major shake-ups are taking place at BioWare. Earlier this week, it was reported that a lot of developers were taken out of BioWare to be temporarily shifted to other projects within Electronic Arts, since Mass Effect 5 is still in pre-production and doesn’t require the full studio to be working on it.
Not everything was as simple as EA made it seem though, as shortly after the announcement of the restructuring, several high-profile developers from BioWare that worked on Mass Effect and Dragon Age began announcing via their personal social media accounts that they were now looking for work. Now, a new report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has claimed that these moves are being made permanent.
BioWare Has Reportedly Lost Over 100 Devs Since 2023
According to Schreier’s sources, many BioWare developers have now found themselves working for studios they had no plans to join, and are being told they’ll need to reapply for jobs at BioWare if they want to return. With these now permanent departures, Schreier’s sources claim that BioWare’s 200 person strong development team back in 2023 is now made up of less than 100 people.
Those people are reportedly made up of BioWare veterans that were behind the original Mass Effect trilogy and Anthem, with plans to increase numbers once Mass Effect 5 is far enough into development. However, with BioWare’s long history of internal development struggles, recent disappointing results, and EA’s history of shutting down studios, you have to wonder whether Mass Effect 5 will even see the light of day.
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