Dragon Age Team Laid Off as BioWare Shifts Focus to Mass Effect

In a significant shift, key developers from the Dragon Age series at BioWare have announced their departure following a restructuring that sees the studio focusing entirely on the next installment of the Mass Effect franchise. On January 29, IGN reported that BioWare has reassigned several of its developers to other projects within EA as part of this strategic pivot toward Mass Effect 5.

BioWare's general manager, Gary McKay, emphasized that the studio is using the time between development cycles to "reimagine how we work." He noted that at this stage of development, the full studio's support is not required for Mass Effect 5. McKay highlighted the efforts made over the past few months to place BioWare's talented developers in suitable roles across EA.

While EA has successfully transitioned an unspecified number of BioWare developers into equivalent roles within the company, a smaller group of Dragon Age team members are facing termination. These developers have been given the opportunity to apply for other positions within EA.

Following this announcement, 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 taken to social media to announce their departure and seek new employment opportunities.

This news comes on the heels of a round of layoffs in 2023 at BioWare, and last week's departure announcement by Dragon Age: The Veilguard director Corinne Busche. When asked by IGN about the specifics of the impact on BioWare's workforce, EA's response was non-committal, stating only that the studio now has "the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development."

The development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard concluded last week with what appears to be its final major update. The game, the first new entry in the fantasy RPG series in a decade, did not meet expectations. 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 targets by 50%, achieving only 1.5 million players against the projected three million. The game's development was fraught with challenges, including layoffs and the departure of several project leads at various stages, as previously documented.

Meanwhile, EA confirmed that a "core team" at BioWare, led by veterans from the original Mass Effect trilogy such as Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley, is now focused on developing the next Mass Effect game.