BioWare lays off about 50 people in the pursuit of being “agile” and “focused”
And to “preserve the health of the studio”
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BioWare, the studio behindDragon AgeandMass Effectseries, has announced that it is laying off around 50 staff members to “meet the needs of upcoming projects” and to make the studio “more agile and more focused”.
In anupdate on BioWare’s website, general manager Gary McKay stated that to be in a situation where it can keep crafting single-player games that we know the studio for, “change is not only necessary, but unavoidable”. He wrote: “In order to meet the needs of our upcoming projects, continue to hold ourselves to the highest standard of quality, and ensure BioWare can continue to thrive in an industry that’s rapidly evolving, we must shift towards a more agile and more focused studio. It will allow our developers to iterate quickly, unlock more creativity, and form a clear vision of what we’re building before development ramps up.”
The reality and practical application of this is that the studio is now “eliminating approximately 50 roles at BioWare”. In terms of what roles have been directly affected, the statement doesn’t say, but earlycommentary and reaction on social media seem to indicatethat long-standing writers and staff who have been with BioWare sinceDragon Age Originsin 2007 have been let go, with BioWare veteran writer, Mary Kirby,declaring yesterday on Twitter/X that she is now “available”.
Appearing to attempt to soften the blow, McKay says this change comes in line with “a significant number of roles that are open currently across EA’s other studios” and offers reassurances that affected people will receive help and resources if they wish to apply for these. However, he also admits that it’s “unlikely that everyone will find a new role within the company”.
McKay goes on to addressDragon Age: Dreadwolfdirectly saying that the studio’s dedication to the game “has never wavered”. He wrote: “Our commitment remains steadfast, and we are all working to make this game worthy of theDragon Agename.” With this in mind, it does seem like an unusual move to be potentially letting go of staff who have been on theDragon Ageseries itself for so long while the next installment is in development.
Layoffs are no stranger to the video game development industry and can often happen quickly or out of the blue. We also know that change has been occurring at BioWare and parent company EA for a little while, withStar Wars: The Old Republicbeing moved to a new studioearlier this year, andEA has realigned its studios into separate organizationsas part of a wider restructuring.
BioWare is known for some of thebest single-player gamesgoing, with Dragon Age and Mass Effect also ranking among thebest RPGs.
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Rob is the Managing Editor of TechRadar Gaming, a video games journalist, critic, editor, and writer, and has years of experience gained from multiple publications. Prior to being TechRadar Gaming’s Managing Editor, he was TRG’s Deputy Editor, and a longstanding member of GamesRadar+, being the Commissioning Editor for Hardware there for years, while also squeezing in a short stint as Gaming Editor at WePC just before joining TechRadar Gaming. He is also a writer on tech, gaming hardware, and video games but also gardens and landscapes, combining the two areas in an upcomingbook on video game landscapesthat you can back and pre-order now.
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