On 21 October, EA confirmed that it's closing BioWare. The studio's own post on X put it bluntly: BioWare is closing, and early development on the next Mass Effect is ending. Its Edmonton office is going too.
If you grew up on Baldur's Gate, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect or Dragon Age, that one stings. It also didn't come out of nowhere. To make sense of it, you have to go back a year to the biggest buyout the games industry has ever seen.
The buyout
In September 2025, EA agreed to be bought by a group made up of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), the US investment firm Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. The price was about $55 billion, or $210 a share in cash.
The detail that matters is how it was paid for. Roughly $36 billion came from the buyers. The other $20 billion was debt, committed by JPMorgan. That's a debt-funded buyout, and the catch is that the company being bought ends up carrying the loan, and the interest has to come out of the business every year.
How we got here
Deal announced
PIF, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners agree to take EA private at $210 a share.
Shareholders say yes
EA's investors approve the sale.
Anthem goes dark
The servers for BioWare's 2019 online shooter are switched off for good.
EU clears the deal
The last major regulatory hurdle is out of the way.
EA goes private
The sale completes and EA leaves the NASDAQ. Andrew Wilson stays on as CEO.
The $700m number
Bloomberg reports EA has told the people lending it money that it will cut about $700 million a year in costs.
BioWare closes
EA's operating chief and studios chief announce the closure in a letter to staff, alongside cuts elsewhere.
What EA actually said
The letter, from COO David Tinson and Chief Studios Officer Cam Weber, is titled "Building EA's Next Chapter". It talks about focusing on fewer, bigger games. BioWare is closing and the next Mass Effect is stopping at an early stage.
On numbers, be careful with what you read. Bloomberg's source says about 400 jobs across EA, roughly 3% of staff, with around 50 at BioWare. EA itself hasn't confirmed those figures. BioWare was already much smaller than in its heyday, after the Dragon Age team was cut back in early 2025.
That's my read, not EA's. But the pattern is hard to miss. Anthem struggled and was abandoned. Dragon Age: The Veilguard, released in October 2024, didn't hit what EA wanted from it. A studio whose games take the best part of a decade to make is the obvious target when a cost-cutting number has been promised to lenders.
What's carrying on and what isn't
Still going
EA Sports FC, Battlefield, Apex Legends, The Sims (via "Project Evergreen"), skate. (with a smaller team), Star Wars Jedi, the Iron Man game, Fight Night, Project Gridiron. Star Wars: The Old Republic carries on under Broadsword, which runs it separately. Amazon's Mass Effect TV series is reportedly unaffected.
Gone or paused
BioWare and its Edmonton studio. The next Mass Effect. Anthem, already shut down in January. The Sims "Project Lotus" is paused in EA's words; several outlets are calling it cancelled.
There's also a shooter being made by Respawn and DICE together. EA hasn't named it. Variety's sources say it's Battlefront III, but treat that as a rumour until it's announced.
Is it just EA?
No. Microsoft announced its own Xbox "reset" in July, with about 3,200 jobs cut. The whole industry spent 2023 to 2026 shedding staff after the pandemic boom. What makes EA's case different is the debt. A bad year explains some cuts. These ones are also paying for the sale.
There's one more rumour worth flagging. Bloomberg reported in September that PIF is considering merging EA with Savvy Games Group, the Saudi gaming company it also owns. Nothing has been announced. If it happens, expect another round of "efficiencies".
What it means for you as a player
- Your existing BioWare games are fine. Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the Dragon Age games and KOTOR don't need servers to play. Anthem was the exception and it's already gone.
- Mass Effect isn't dead as a name. EA still owns it, and the TV series is going ahead. It could come back with a different studio one day. Just not the team that made it.
- Expect fewer, bigger EA releases. Sports, Battlefield and live-service games are where the money is, and that's where EA says it's focusing.
- Buy digital games with your eyes open. Anthem is a reminder that online-only games can stop working when the publisher decides they're not worth running.
Summary
EA's $55bn buyout closed in August with $20bn of debt attached and a promise to cut $700m a year. Ten weeks later, BioWare is closing and the next Mass Effect is cancelled at an early stage. EA's big franchises carry on; long, expensive single-player RPGs are what lost out. Your old BioWare games still work, and the Mass Effect name lives on, but the studio that made it is gone.
Sources: EA, "Building EA's Next Chapter" (21 Oct 2026) · EA, acquisition completed (4 Aug 2026) · Gematsu · Game Informer · Vice · Kotaku on the $700m cuts · Kotaku on the Mass Effect series · Kotaku on the Savvy merger report · GodisaGeek on EU approval · GodisaGeek on Xbox cuts
