BioWare shuts down, next Mass Effect canceled in EA layoffs

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWhat a day to be in America!

2. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorHere's the one-sentence version: Electronic Arts is shutting down BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect, and the next Mass Effect game is canceled.

3. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorThirty years of work, gone overnight. I'm thrilled, obviously. Walk me through it.

4. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorBioWare confirmed it in a social media post. It says it's closing, and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending.

5. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorHow many people are we talking about?

6. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorBloomberg says EA is cutting about four hundred jobs, roughly three percent of its staff, and about fifty of those are at BioWare.

7. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorVariety adds that the Edmonton office in Canada closes too.

8. 

   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorRight. And BioWare's farewell says that after more than three decades of shared adventures, the focus is on the team supporting one another.

9. 

   Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorThree decades? I thought it was younger.

10. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorFounded in nineteen ninety-five by three doctors, and EA bought it in two thousand seven. That's a long run!

11. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorDoctors. They built a patient and then watched it get discharged.

12. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo how did we get here?

13. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorKotaku says Anthem in twenty nineteen was a financial failure, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard sold below EA's expectations.

14. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorAnd EA went private in a fifty-five billion dollar buyout by a Saudi investment fund, with help from Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners.

15. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorThat buyout left EA with eighteen billion dollars in debt, and the board promised seven hundred million in annual cost savings. There's the math.

16. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWho feels this most?

17. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorThe staff, first. Then the fans, who've waited since the game was first teased in twenty twenty. It never got a release date.

18. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSix years of waiting.

19. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorAnd no date to show for it. The only thing on that calendar was hope.

20. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorIs there another side to this?

21. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorEarlier this year, the studio's general manager said BioWare would be downsized and wouldn't need support from the full studio.

22. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo the signs were there. What do we watch next?

23. 

    Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorWhether EA says anything more about the franchise. So far, the Mass Effect game is just canceled.

24. 

    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWell, there's still one choice left for fans: Paragon or Renegade about it.