EA cuts 20% of BioWare staff and drops unionised playtesting company

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf – BioWare has been working on it for a very long time (Picture: EA)

The maker of Dragon Age and Mass Effect has had to endure cost-cutting measures as it becomes an ‘agile and more focused studio.’

It’s now six years since BioWare released their last role-playing game, with the ill-fated Mass Effect Andromeda, and almost a decade since Dragon Age Inquisition – the last role-player from the main studio in Edmonton.

At the moment they’re supposed to be working on both Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and a new Mass Effect but despite being years in development almost nothing has been seen of either and now 50 staff members have been made redundant – accounting for 20% of their 250-odd workforce.

‘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,’ claims general manager Gary McKay.

‘It will allow our developers to iterate quickly, unlock more creativity, and form a clear vision of what we’re building before development ramps up.’

‘After much consideration and careful planning, we have built a long-term vision that will preserve the health of the studio, he added – which makes it sound very much like cost-cutting measures forced on the studio from above.

That’s not necessarily as unreasonable as it sounds, as 250 people is a lot and given how long it is since they’ve had a hit game, they must be costing EA a lot of money to run.

‘If you’re wondering how all of this will impact development of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, let me be clear that our dedication to the game has never wavered,’ says McKay.

‘Our commitment remains steadfast, and we all are working to make this game worthy of the Dragon Age name. We are confident that we’ll have the time needed to ensure Dreadwolf reaches its full potential.’

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What seems far less reasonable, and what the blog from McKay fails to mention, is that at the same time EA has cut all ties with playtesting studio Keywords, seemingly because they’ve just unionised.

EA’s contract with Keywords will be left to run out on September 27, which will likely lead to job losses at the company. According to website VentureBeat this was connected to the changes at BioWare, although it’s not clear exactly what the two companies disagreed over.

All this comes just weeks after EA outsourced development of BioWare’s MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic to Ultima Online studio Broadsword. Although given the age of the game, that was less of a surprise.

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MORE : Mass Effect 4 still in pre-production as BioWare focuses on Dragon Age

MORE : Dragon Age: Dreadwolf loses another BioWare veteran in Mac Walters

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The maker of Dragon Age and Mass Effect has had to endure cost-cutting measures as it becomes an ‘agile and more focused studio.’