After Dragon Age: The Veilguard flopped, Electronic Arts has been putting BioWare under scrutiny. In addition to moving some staff to other teams and assigning them to other projects, such as Battlefield, the company has taken things a step further. According to Bloomberg, Electronic Arts has changed its mind, and instead of temporary placements, the affected staff members will permanently leave the BioWare team. The studio had over 200 employees two years ago, but now fewer than 100 remain.
The news came as a complete shock to the staff members, as none of them expected to leave BioWare and join another studio. Unfortunately, Electronic Arts no longer considers them part of the BioWare staff. Even if they want to return to the studio, they must find a job opening and reapply for the position. In hindsight, they’re much luckier compared to other employees who were fired after Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet expectations.
BioWare announced the news on January 29 in a blog post, stating that they aimed to make the studio more agile and focused on creating unforgettable RPGs. The post did not mention the staff transfer, only noting that it did not require support from the full studio. “We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit,” BioWare said.
The news didn’t just shock the staff, with fans also expressing their surprise. Many couldn’t imagine how BioWare had gone from a company with multiple studios to just one. “It’s a sad reality, but it seems like we’re heading towards EA shutting down BioWare before they can even get the next Mass Effect out the door,” one Redditor commented.
Some questioned whether BioWare could still even be considered alive, with many believing that the studio would not be able to release a great Mass Effect game. “How is BioWare still open at this point?” another Redditor said. “They’re literally a shell of their former self now, does EA really expect them to pull a miracle out of their asses after the past decade?”
