RIP BioWare: EA has shut down the legendary RPG developer

BioWare is closing, and the next Mass Effect game is cancelled.

The legendary RPG studio was responsible for the original Baldur's Gate games and, most recently, the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. The studio was founded over 31 years ago in 1995.

"What generations of BioWare built together is something to celebrate and remember," said the studio in a statement published on social media. "These games became so much more because you played them, debated your choices, fell in love with the characters, and made these worlds your own."

BioWare owner Electronic Arts was recently acquired by a consortium made up of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and investment firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners.

Following the acquisition, employees were not confident that the studio had a future, with one saying last year that it felt like "a matter of time" before the axe fell.

Plans for a new Mass Effect game were first teased in 2020. In 2025, BioWare said that "a core team at BioWare" was working on the game despite layoffs.

Bloomberg also reports that EA is laying off around 400 people across the company.