BioWare Shut Down: Mass Effect 5 Cancelled, What EA Makes Now

BioWare is done. On Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Electronic Arts confirmed it is closing the studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and the next Mass Effect game dies with it. If you were holding out for the N7 teaser to pay off, this is the answer nobody wanted.

What EA announced

• BioWare is closing, along with its Edmonton studio space. The studio was founded in 1995.
• The next Mass Effect is cancelled. EA says only a small team was in early development, and it chose not to move forward.
• About 400 jobs cut company-wide (roughly 3% of EA), with around 50 at BioWare, according to Bloomberg's reporting.
• BioWare's own goodbye called its legacy "something to celebrate and remember."
• BioWare's last game was Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024), which EA says underperformed. Anthem was already shut down earlier this year.

What happens to your games

• Star Wars: The Old Republic is still running and still getting updates from Broadsword, which took it over from BioWare.
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition and the Dragon Age games are still EA-published titles. EA hasn't announced any delistings.
• EA hasn't said what it plans to do with the Mass Effect or Dragon Age names long term. Nothing announced means nothing confirmed, either way.

What EA is still making

EA's staff memo from presidents Cam Weber and David Tinson lays out where the money goes now:

• A new shooter from DICE and Respawn working together. EA didn't name it, but it lines up with the Star Wars Battlefront 3 rumors.
• Star Wars Jedi 3 and Marvel's Iron Man, both still in development.
• More Battlefield, new Apex Legends modes, and the annual EA Sports lineup.
• "Project Gridiron", a social-first open-world football game, plus a Fight Night revival in pre-production.
• "Project Evergreen" for The Sims is the priority; "Project Lotus" is paused. The skate. team is being downsized.

The 2nd Shift take

This one stings. BioWare made the games a lot of us stayed up until 4 a.m. for — Baldur's Gate, KOTOR, Mass Effect 2's suicide mission. But let's be straight: the BioWare that made those games left years ago, one veteran at a time. What closed this week was the name on the door.

The bigger tell is the memo itself. Shooters, sports, Star Wars, Marvel, live service. Big single-player RPGs aren't on EA's list anymore. That's a business call, and it's EA's to make. Just don't be surprised when the next great story-driven RPG comes from a studio like Larian or Obsidian — or from ex-BioWare devs who start their own.

Got a favorite BioWare memory? Drop it in the 2nd Shift Discord — the night crew is pouring one out.

Keep reading: Star Wars Battlefront 3 Rumors: DICE and Respawn Reportedly On It · November 2026 Game Releases

Sources: EA, PC Gamer, Forbes, Nintendo Life, Kotaku, Massively OP