In a significant shift within the gaming industry, key developers from the Dragon Age team at BioWare have announced their departure from the studio. This move comes in the wake of BioWare's restructuring efforts to pivot its focus entirely onto the development of the next installment in the Mass Effect series, referred to as Mass Effect 5. The announcement was made on January 29, with IGN reporting that BioWare had reassigned a number of its developers to other projects within EA.
BioWare's general manager, Gary McKay, explained the studio's decision, stating, "We are taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work." He further noted that given the current stage of development for Mass Effect 5, "we don’t require support from the full studio." McKay emphasized the studio's efforts to match many of its colleagues with suitable roles at other EA teams, highlighting the talent within BioWare.
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 positions within EA. Following this news, several BioWare developers, including 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, have publicly announced their departure from the studio and are seeking new employment opportunities.
This restructuring follows a challenging period for BioWare, which included a round of layoffs in 2023 and the recent departure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard director Corinne Busche. When asked by IGN about the specifics of the impact on BioWare's staff, EA provided a vague response, stating, "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."
Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the latest entry in the fantasy RPG series and the first new game in a decade, concluded its development last week with what appears to be its final major update. The game's launch was underwhelming, and BioWare confirmed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard wouldn’t receive any post-launch DLC, disappointing fans who expected expansions similar to those of previous Dragon Age titles. EA later revealed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of sales expectations by 50%, achieving only 1.5 million players against a target of three million. The game's development was fraught with challenges, including layoffs and the departure of several project leads at various stages, as previously reported.
Looking ahead, EA confirmed that a "core team" at BioWare is now focused on 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, signaling a strong commitment to the future of the Mass Effect franchise.
