BioWare general manager Gary McKay confirmed today in a blog post on the studio’s official website that the team at BioWare is downsizing, as the studio puts all its focus behind the next Mass Effect game.
McKay doesn’t exactly say that anyone was laid off or cut from the team, instead he stipulates that at the current stage of development for the new Mass Effect, where the team is “between full development cycles” now that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is out, “we don’t require support from the full studio.”
“We have incredible talent here at BioWare,” McKay continues, “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.”
There’s never an indication that anyone was laid off as part of this restructuring, instead McKay just doesn’t present the full picture of what this change means.
A report from IGN however does claim that “a smaller number of Dragon Age team members are also seeing their roles terminated,” which seems to help fill in the gaps left by McKay.
McKay focuses instead on saying that this change is part of the studio’s “fierce commitment to innovating during the development and delivery of Mass Effect,” and that it is part of how the team has “challenged ourselves to think deeply about delivering the best experience to our fans.”
McKay finishes the blog by saying this change “will see BioWare become a more agile, focused studio that produces unforgettable RPGs.”
Back in 2023, a little more than a year from Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s release, McKay announced that the studio would lay off 50 employees, claiming that it was a change done to “meet the needs of our coming projects.” McKay even references the 2023 announcement at the top of today’s blog post, citing today’s news as a continuation of the efforts he proclaimed then.
Today’s announcement then just seems to be the latest creative way McKay and EA have discovered to say layoffs have happened, without directly saying layoffs have happened.
When pressed for more specifics on the situation by IGN, a spokesperson for BioWare would only say “While we’re not sharing numbers, the studio has the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development.”
The same spokesperson also confirmed what was already hinted at in The Veilguard’s most recent patch update, that BioWare has shifted its focus entirely onto Mass Effect.
“The studio’s priority was Dragon Age. During this time there were people continuing to build the vision for the next Mass Effect. Now that The Veilguard has shipped, the studio’s full focus is Mass Effect.”