Electronic Arts plans to eliminate roughly 400 positions in an upcoming round of job cuts, per a new report from Bloomberg, and will also be closing the doors on its long-time role-playing game maker BioWare.
Per Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, these cuts represent about three percent of EA's total staff, and roughly 50 at BioWare. A letter sent to staff today from EA's COO David Tinson and Chief Studios Officer Cam Weber said that they've taken a "hard look at our business" and will cut projects, including the next Mass Effect.
"As we focus on these larger opportunities, we've had a small team at BioWare working on early-development for Mass Effect," the letter reads. "We've made the decision not to move forward with this development, which means we’re closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace. BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly."
Sports, shooters (like Apex Legends), and Star Wars (including the next Jedi title) will continue apace at Electronic Arts. The publisher also has a new Iron Man game in the works, and plans are in the works for more Battlefield, as well as a new collaboration between Respawn and DICE. The staff letter also suggests a planned Sims game will be put on ice in favor of another venture, and that while Skate development will continue, EA will downsize the team working on it.
EA was fully acquired earlier this year by a number of investor groups, including Silver Lake, Affinity Partners, and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, taking the publicly traded company private.
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