The legendary BioWare studio is closing and halting work on the new Mass Effect
On October 22, 2026, news broke of the closure of the legendary game studio known for creating some of the best role-playing games in history. It was also reported that development of the next installment in the Mass Effect series had been officially halted.
Electronic Arts officially announced the closure of the legendary studio BioWare, which created such iconic role-playing games as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Baldur’s Gate, KOTOR, and Neverwinter Nights. The studio confirmed this news by posting a farewell message on X.
BioWare was founded in 1995 by three medical professionals—Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeszchuk, and Augustine Yip—and was acquired by EA in 2007. After that, BioWare solidified its position in the market thanks to the Mass Effect and Dragon Age trilogies. These projects were recognized for their richly developed worlds, memorable characters, and narrative choices that influenced the story’s progression.
However, in recent years, the studio has faced challenges. Mass Effect: Andromeda, released in 2017, received a less enthusiastic reception than the original trilogy. The multiplayer action game Anthem, released in 2019, also failed to capture gamers’ interest. In early 2026, its servers were permanently shut down.
BioWare’s last game was Dragon Age: The Veilguard, released in 2024. Although the project received mostly positive reviews from critics and players, it failed to meet Electronic Arts’ commercial expectations. As a result, the studio had already undergone layoffs, and now the publisher has decided to shut it down completely.
One of the main consequences of the closure was the cancellation of the next game in the Mass Effect series. The project was in the early stages of development, and in 2025, BioWare reported that a small core team was working on it. The game was intended to continue the sci-fi series and, as fans had hoped, bring back some characters from the original trilogy.
The closure of BioWare was part of a large-scale restructuring at Electronic Arts. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to lay off about 400 employees, which represents approximately 3% of its workforce. About 50 of those layoffs will be at BioWare itself.
EA explained the changes as a need to focus resources on projects with the greatest potential. The company will continue to invest in sports games, Apex Legends, the new Star Wars Jedi game, and an Iron Man game. The publisher also intends to develop the Battlefield series.
The restructuring follows the completion of a deal to buy out Electronic Arts worth approximately $55 billion. In August 2026, the company came under the control of a consortium comprising the Saudi Arabian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the investment firm Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners, led by Jared Kushner.
The future of the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises remains uncertain. EA has not disclosed whether it plans to transfer them to other teams or continue working on them in the future. The closure of BioWare marks the end of a studio that helped shape the RPG genre for three decades.
Source: BioWare
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