Electronic Arts has joined the wave of mass layoffs sweeping tech and tech-adjacent industries, announcing Wednesday that the recently privatized video game giant would cut about 3% of its workforce and shut down BioWare entirely.
According to Variety, EA most recently reported that it employs about 14,500 employees, meaning the layoffs will leave about 400 workers without a job. That includes about 50 employees who worked under the BioWare banner, as that entire arm will shut down for good.
In a separate announcement, BioWare confirmed that it is being shuttered “after more than three decades of shared adventures.” With the studio closing its doors (or having its doors closed for it), a new Mass Effect game that was reportedly in the early phases of development will be sent to video game heaven.
— BioWare (@bioware) October 21, 2026
“BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly,” EA executives Cam Weber, president and chief studios officer, and David Tinson, president and COO, said in a statement—though apparently not legendary enough to keep around even as a namesake. As a result, the studio responsible for titles including Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, among others, is no more.
With that legacy now more of an obituary, EA said it is turning its focus to the future and the “next era of interactive entertainment.” That era will apparently largely focus on multiplayer offerings and games that the company can tack microtransactions onto repeatedly—though it probably wouldn’t describe the initiative that way.
Per the company’s press release, it plans to focus on investing in its sports offerings like Madden, soccer franchise FC, and the recently revived College Football series. It also said it’ll “invest heavily” in Apex Legends—a game that EA has previously reported generated more than $3 billion from selling in-game skins and other cosmetic features. In the same vein, EA promoted Battlefield 6 as an example of a recent success it hopes to replicate—a game that the company sells expensive, seasonal “battle passes” on top of charging a $70 base price.
It’s probably no surprise that EA is going all in on the revenue generators. The company would likely be doing that regardless of whether it was publicly traded or not, but since going private after a $55 billion buyout by private equity investors and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, it seems the company is going to be pedal-to-the-metal on reliable money makers. Because who doesn’t love getting nickel-and-dimed to death by their hobby meant to help them escape reality?
