BioWare Downsized to Less Than 100 Employees After Layoffs, Relocations: Report

The reorganisation at BioWare comes after EA said Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of sales expectations.

Written by Manas Mitul | Updated: 3 February 2025 18:21 IST

BioWare Downsized to Less Than 100 Employees After Layoffs, Relocations: Report

Photo Credit: EA/ BioWare

Dragon Age: The Veilguard released October 31, 2024

Highlights

BioWare is shifting its focus to the next Mass Effect title
The studio reportedly laid off around two dozen employees last week
The next Mass Effect title is still in pre production

BioWare, the studio behind Dragon Age and Mass Effect, has reportedly been hit with layoffs and relocations, downsizing to less than half of its size from two years ago. The developer is said to have laid off over 20 employees and permanently moved several others to different teams across parent company Electronic Arts. The development follows a studio update from BioWare last week that said it was shifting its focus to the next Mass Effect title and had matched a number of its staffers to other teams at EA over the past few months.

Layoffs at BioWare

According to a Bloomberg report published Friday, dozens of BioWare employees, who were initially “loaned out” to other teams at EA after the launch of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, were informed last week that their moves were now permanent. The loaned-out staffers were no longer BioWare employees, the report claimed, citing people aware of the matter, and were instead absorbed at the EA studios they had been shifted to.

The reorganisation effort also saw “around two dozen” other BioWare employees laid off, the report said. With the permanent relocations and job cuts, BioWare has now reportedly been downsized to less than 100 employees; the studio was over 200-people strong in 2023.

EA Sports FC 25, Dragon Age: The Veilguard Fell Below EA's Sales Expectation

In a studio update shared last week following the reorganisation, BioWare general manager Gary McKay said a core team at the company was now developing the next Mass Effect title under the leadership of veterans from the original trilogy, including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others. McKay said the studio would reassess its work processes between full development cycles for games.

“Given this stage of development, we don't 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,” McKay said in the update posted on the studio's website.

“Today's news will see BioWare become a more agile, focused studio that produces unforgettable RPGs. We appreciate your support as we build a new future for BioWare.”

BioWare Has No Plans for Dragon Age: The Veilguard Expansions

On Monday, Gamble, who is leading the team working on the next Mass Effect, confirmed that the game was still in pre-production phase.

The reorganisation at BioWare comes after EA said Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of sales expectations.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Genre RPG

Platform PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series S/X, PC: Windows

Modes Single-player

Series Dragon Age

PEGI Rating 18+

More Electronic Arts Games

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Further reading: BioWare, EA, Electronic Arts, Dragon Age The Veilguard, Mass Effect

Manas Mitul

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In his time as a journalist, Manas Mitul has written on a wide spectrum of beats including politics, culture and sports. He enjoys reading, walking around in museums and rewatching films. Talk to Manas about football and tennis, but maybe don’t bring up his video game backlog. More