BioWare Pivots Mass Effect 5 Team, EA Reassigns Staff

Electronic Arts has unveiled a restructuring plan for BioWare, the studio behind Dragon Age and Mass Effect. The initiative involves transitioning a number of developers to other projects within EA, while the studio shifts its full focus to the upcoming Mass Effect title.

In a blog post, General Manager Gary McKay explained that the studio is “using this transition between major development cycles to rethink our operational approach at BioWare.”

“At this phase of development, we don't need the entire studio’s support,” he added. “We have exceptional talent here, and over the past several months, we’ve worked carefully to place many of our team members into other open roles across EA that align with their skills.”

IGN has learned that EA has already reassigned an unspecified number of BioWare developers to comparable positions within the company. A smaller group of Dragon Age team members are facing role eliminations and are being given time to explore other opportunities within EA if they wish.

BioWare’s organizational structure has undergone multiple changes in recent years. The studio conducted layoffs in 2023 and experienced several high-profile departures during the development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard—most recently, director Corinne Busche left the studio last week. The current headcount at BioWare remains unclear. IGN reached out to EA for details regarding how many employees are affected by this change, how many are at risk of layoffs, and how many will stay. EA declined to share specific numbers, but a spokesperson provided the following statement:

“The studio’s main focus was Dragon Age. Throughout that period, some team members continued shaping the vision for the next Mass Effect. Now that The Veilguard has launched, the studio is entirely dedicated to Mass Effect.

“We aren’t disclosing figures, but the studio currently has the appropriate number of people in the right roles to advance Mass Effect at this development phase.”

The new Mass Effect title was announced four years ago and remains in early development. According to IGN’s understanding, BioWare is now concentrating on one game at a time. Some developers previously working on Mass Effect were reassigned to Dragon Age to help complete that project and are now returning to Mass Effect. As stated in the blog post, the Mass Effect development is now being led by series veterans including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley.

This update follows EA’s announcement last week that Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell nearly 50% short of its player targets. The company also revised its fiscal year guidance downward, partly due to the game’s performance and, more significantly, weaker-than-expected results from EA Sports FC 25. EA will hold its Q3 earnings conference call on February 4.