Electronic Arts has joined the wave of mass layoffs sweeping tech and tech-adjacent industries, announcing Wednesday that the recently privatized video game giant would cut about 3% of its workforce and shut down BioWare entirely.
According to Variety, EA most recently reported that it employs about 14,500 employees, meaning the layoffs will leave about 400 workers without a job. That includes about 50 employees who worked under the BioWare banner, as that entire arm will shut down for good.
In a separate announcement, BioWare confirmed that it is being shuttered “after more than three decades of shared adventures.” With the studio closing its doors (or having its doors closed for it), a new Mass Effect game that was reportedly in the early phases of development will be sent to video game heaven.
“BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly,” EA executives Cam Weber, president and chief studios officer, and David Tinson, president and COO, said in a statement—though apparently not legendary enough to keep around even as a namesake. As a result, the studio responsible for titles including Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, among others, is no more.
” That era will apparently largely focus on multiplayer offerings and games that the company can tack microtransactions onto repeatedly—though it probably wouldn’t describe the initiative that way.
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