{"id":67028,"date":"2026-10-22T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/?guid=5028e95c9fd9ed2a092c4744070f9840"},"modified":"2026-10-22T21:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T21:11:12","slug":"next-mass-effect-game-cancelled-as-ea-shuts-down-legendary-sci-fi-rpg-studio-bioware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/10\/22\/next-mass-effect-game-cancelled-as-ea-shuts-down-legendary-sci-fi-rpg-studio-bioware\/","title":{"rendered":"Next Mass Effect game cancelled as EA shuts down legendary sci-fi RPG studio BioWare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
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The writing was on the wall, but the news still hit us like a truck yesterday. BioWare, the iconic RPG studio behind the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, is no more. Development on the next Mass Effect<\/strong><\/u><\/a> has stopped, but EA might not be entirely done with the IP. <\/p>

Variety<\/strong><\/u><\/a> reported, backed by EA\u2019s own statement and BioWare\u2019s goodbye on<\/strong><\/u> <\/u>socials<\/strong><\/u><\/a>, that EA is laying off 3% of its global workforce and closing down BioWare. The shift comes shortly after the company went fully private this summer<\/strong><\/u><\/a>, with Saudi Arabia and private equity acquiring it alongside all its studios and properties.<\/p>

A new Mass Effect game \u2014 meant to serve as a follow-up to the original trilogy \u2014 had been in development since the early 2020s, though progress was slow following severe downsizing after 2024\u2019s Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet EA\u2019s expectations. According to Bloomberg\u2019s Jason Schreier, only around 50 staff remained at the studio<\/strong><\/u><\/a>, which would\u2019ve needed to go on a hiring spree to complete development of the massive sci-fi RPG.<\/p>

The first post-shutdown shocker arrived a bit later, with IGN exclusively revealing that Mass Effect isn't entirely dead, as the upcoming live-action TV show based on Mass Effect is still moving forward<\/strong><\/u><\/a> at Prime Video. <\/p>

The series started active development<\/strong><\/u><\/a> at Amazon in late 2024, but it has yet to reach production status. Little is known about the story, but rumors point to it aiming to bridge the gap between the original trilogy and the now-cancelled new game. Despite closing the studio that created it, EA still owns the Mass Effect property.<\/p>

\"Screenshot<\/p><\/div><\/div>

(Image credit: EA)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Variety\u2019s report, which includes more comments from EA\u2019s top brass about the present and future of the publisher, also contains updates on Marvel\u2019s Iron Man (developed at Motive) and Star Wars Jedi 3 (Respawn Entertainment). Both are still coming, and the more surprising news comes in the shape of DICE and Respawn teaming up for a totally new project, believed to be Star Wars Battlefront 3 after days of strong rumors<\/strong><\/u><\/a> from a number of reputable sources.<\/p>

Elsewhere, ex-BioWare developers have teamed up at new studios like Archetype and Arcanaut. The former is preparing to ship Mass Effect-inspired action RPG Exodus<\/strong><\/u><\/a> in 2027, and the latter recently started work on Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic<\/strong><\/u><\/a>, with original Knights of the Old Republic (and Mass Effect) director Casey Hudson behind the wheel. <\/p>

Here\u2019s hoping both studios, as well as the recently laid-off developers, can find success in an increasingly hostile industry.<\/p>\n <\/article>\n \n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The legendary RPG studio behind classics such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age is no more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":928,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2800,3042],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","category-space-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67028"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/928"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67028"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67064,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67028\/revisions\/67064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}