EA Is Closing BioWare and Ending Work on the Next Mass Effect

General Gaming
The End of BioWare

Author:

Watty
Category:

General Gaming
Date:

Oct 26, 2026

Commander Shepard looking out at a towering alien ship at sunset in Mass Effect Legendary Edition

On 21 October, BioWare announced it is shutting down after more than 30 years of making RPGs, and that "development on the next Mass Effect project is ending." The decision came from its owner, Electronic Arts, as part of a wider restructuring.

What EA said

In an open letter to staff, EA wrote that "we've had a small team at BioWare working on early-development for Mass Effect. We've made the decision not to move forward with this development, which means we're closing the studio and our Edmonton workspace." It added that "BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly." Bloomberg reports 400 job cuts across EA, 50 of them at BioWare.

The same letter sets out where EA is putting its money instead: future Battlefield games, a new project bringing Respawn and DICE together, continued investment in Apex Legends, Marvel's Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game, a return for Fight Night, and a social, open-world American football game called Project Gridiron. One Sims project, Project Lotus, is paused.

What BioWare leaves behind

BioWare made the original Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Anthem. For space game players, Mass Effect is the big one: a trilogy that carried your choices across three games and an entire galaxy, and that is still on sale today as the Legendary Edition.

"Mass Effect showed a generation of players what a space RPG could be. It deserved a better ending than this one."

The Exiles

The reaction

Within days, a "Save Mass Effect" petition passed 180,000 signatures, Commander Shepard voice actors Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer spoke publicly about the loss, and an internal trailer for the cancelled game reportedly leaked. In Canada, where BioWare was based, a political party leader has argued that the staff should get the first chance to buy the studio, with federal support. So far, EA has not changed course.

Why we are flagging it

BioWare's games are not ones The Exiles are organised around, and we are not announcing anything. But Mass Effect is a big part of why so many people fell for space games in the first place, so if you are replaying the trilogy or just want to talk about it, say so in the Discord and see who else is.

Further reading: EA: Building EA's Next Chapter | Rock Paper Shotgun: EA is shutting down BioWare