Electronic Arts (EA) is cutting 400 jobs and shutting down the legendary studio BioWare.
The news was first reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.
The First Major Domino To Fall Under New Ownership
The decision to hold mass layoffs signals the first major domino to fall for EA under the new ownership group led by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Roughly 400 people will be let go, including around 50 at the Edmonton-based BioWare.
In a memo sent to the company on Wednesday, EA says that the decision comes after taking “a hard look” at the business over the last “several months”.
“Across our portfolio, we’re making deliberate choices to align talent and investments where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth,” EA said via the memo.
They added that the company will continue to invest in sports games—EA just announced the return of Fight Night on Tuesday—along with games like Apex Legends, Battlefield, Star Wars Jedi, and others. They even mentioned DICE and Respawn working on a new game which could be the rumored Star Wars Battlefront 3.
- Mass Effect Cancelled: Read BioWare’s Full Memo on its Closure
A year ago, we reported that staff at BioWare had been worried about the future of the studio. It was understood that, at one point, EA looked to sell off BioWare to another owner. According to sources, conversations never went far enough before the decision to close the studio was made.
With the studio closure, the next Mass Effect game has been canceled and won’t be moved to a different internal studio. Other areas impacted include a scaling down of the team working on Skate as well as the cancelation of a game in The Sims franchise called “Project Lotus”.
It’s also believed that more cuts are expected over the next 12-18 months.
What are your thoughts on the layoffs and closure of BioWare? Let us know down in the comments and in the official Insider Gaming Discord.
In other news, read about Grand Theft Auto 6 already making more than $600 million in pre-order sales alone. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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