Key developers behind the beloved Dragon Age series have announced their departure from BioWare, following the studio's recent restructuring to prioritize the development of the next Mass Effect game. On January 29, IGN reported that BioWare had shifted several of its developers to other projects within EA, as the studio focuses exclusively on Mass Effect 5.
BioWare's general manager, Gary McKay, stated that the studio is "taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work." He further explained, "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."
While EA has successfully placed an unspecified number of BioWare developers into equivalent roles within the company, a smaller group of Dragon Age team members are facing termination. These individuals are being offered the opportunity to apply for other roles within EA.
In the wake of this announcement, several BioWare developers have taken to social media to announce their departure from the studio. Notable among them are editor Karin West-Weekes, narrative designer and lead writer on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Trick Weekes, editor Ryan Cormier, producer Jen Cheverie, and senior systems designer Michelle Flamm, all of whom are now seeking new opportunities.
This news comes after BioWare experienced a round of layoffs in 2023, and last week, Dragon Age: The Veilguard director Corinne Busche also announced her exit from the studio.
When asked by IGN for details on the number of affected BioWare employees, potential layoffs, and remaining staff, EA's response was non-specific: "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. 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."
BioWare concluded its work on Dragon Age: The Veilguard last week, marking what seemed to be its final significant update. The game, the first new entry in the fantasy RPG series in a decade, did not meet expectations. At launch, BioWare confirmed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard would not receive any post-launch DLC, disappointing fans accustomed to expansions from previous Dragon Age titles. Last week, EA revealed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of sales expectations by 50%, achieving only 1.5 million players out of an anticipated three million. This follows documented development challenges, including layoffs and the departure of several project leads at various stages.
Looking forward, EA confirmed that a "core team" at BioWare is currently developing the next Mass Effect game. This team is led by veterans from the original trilogy, including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others.
