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EA closes legendary RPG studio BioWare following its $55 billion buyout

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EA closes legendary RPG studio BioWare following its $55 billion buyout

Ripple effect: BioWare fans have repeatedly feared for the studio's future ever since EA acquired the company nearly 20 years ago, and those fears intensified after last year's announcement of a Saudi-led leveraged buyout. Although BioWare hadn't released a hit title in 12 years, its early successes helped define the RPG genre, and fans likely still held high hopes for the next Mass Effect entry.

In a letter to staff on Wednesday, EA announced the closure of BioWare's Edmonton studio, its last, as part of broader cost-cutting layoffs. The storied RPG developer had begun early development on the next Mass Effect, informally known as Mass Effect 5, which has now been canceled.

EA eliminated around 400 positions this week, including a skeleton crew of 50 at BioWare. BioWare had already suffered severe layoffs last year after multiple releases that missed sales projections over the past decade.

The closure was one of the most feared outcomes of EA's recent $55 billion leveraged buyout by the Saudi-led Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. Affinity Partners was founded by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law. The deal saddled EA with roughly $20 billion in debt.

BioWare was founded in Edmonton, Canada, in 1995 by Drs. Greg Zeschuk, Ray Muzyka, and Augustine Yip. Its first release was Shattered Steel, and over the next decade the company helped define RPGs with games like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Jade Empire. TechSpot previously listed BioWare among its 10 favorite game developers of all time.


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