BioWare update spells bad news for Mass Effect 5

As much as I’m trying to stay calm, this is NOT the news any of us BioWare fans wanted. No, they’re not cancelling Dragon Age: Dreadwolf or Mass Effect 5, but the developer is going to lay-off 50 employees.

Details regarding the next DA instalment have been scarce, to say the least – after showing a behind-the-scenes presentation at Gamecom 2020, pretty much any kind of news about the game went dark. There’s been a cinematic trailer and that’s about it. Given the fact that this is one of BioWare’s beloved IPs, it’s alarming to be this far down the line and still not know a great deal about the game. And now we’ve heard change is coming at the company, we’re a little concerned. Okay, I’m the “we” here, I’m concerned.

Keep away the dark thoughts with the ME Legendary Edition trailer.

This isn’t the first time layoff rumours have filtered down through the grapevine; when BioWare announced it was no longer working on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, fans of the franchise knew that something was amiss.

On 23 August, BioWare’s Gary McKay released a statement. “In order to meet the needs of our upcoming projects, continue to hold ourselves to the highest standard of quality, and ensure BioWare can continue to thrive in an industry that’s rapidly evolving, we must shift towards a more agile and more focused studio,” it reads. “As part of this transition, we are eliminating approximately 50 roles at BioWare. That is deeply painful and humbling to write.”

McKay continued by addressing what the company’s “long-term vision” is, saying, “This vision balances the current needs of the studio—namely, ensuring Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is an outstanding game—with its future, including the success of the next Mass Effect.” At least we know, despite how heartbreaking these layoffs are, that the games we know and love aren’t going to be sacrificed as well. Still, it’s never easy to learn that layoffs are needed, especially when it happens to such a well-known, popular developer.

After going into a few more details regarding the immediate impact these layoffs will have on the company, McKay signed off by saying “For now, I want to thank everyone at BioWare—past and present—for making the studio what it is. I also want to thank our community for your continued support. We’re eager to reveal more about Dreadwolf, and we look forward to discovering what else the future holds.”