BioWare, the developer behind the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, has reportedly been hit with layoffs in the name of restructuring.
According to posts shared by multiple BioWare developers on LinkedIn and Bluesky, the studio has been hit with layoffs. This includes Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Lead Writer Trick Weekes, Lead Editor Karin West-Weekes, and Narrative Editor Ryan Cormier. Additionally, BioWare Producer Jennifer Cheverie Cott, Associate Game Producer Daniel Steed, Senior Product Manager Lina Anderson, and Senior Systems Designer Michelle Flamm have also been let go, while Senior Writer Sheryl Chee, who wrote characters like Leliana, Isabela, Blackwall, and Harding, has been moved to EA Motive.
Earlier today, BioWare General Manager Gary McKay shared an update on the future of the studio. He had mentioned that, in keeping with the studio’s commitment to innovating during the development and delivery of Mass Effect, it has challenged itself to think deeply about delivering the best experience to its fans. According to him, the developer is taking this opportunity between full development cycles to “reimagine” how it works.
On the surface, it sounded like a restructuring of BioWare’s development process. In his statement, McKay had said that a core team at BioWare will continue to work on the next Mass Effect game, and that the studio won’t require support from the remainder of the development team. According to him, several developers were accommodated in other teams at EA, which had open roles that were a strong fit. While there was no mention of what became of the rest, it’s now clear that they were effectively laid off. Many of the employees who have been let go of were involved in the development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Recently, former Project Director and Executive Producer at Bioware, Mark Darrah, had shared that many developers who worked on Dragon Age: The Veilguard were transitioning either to the next Mass Effect title or to other EA projects for the time being, as Mass Effect is not ready to utilize the full team.
