BioWare Reportedly Down to Fewer Than 100 Employees After Recent Layoffs

According to recent reports, BioWare’s staff has been reduced to fewer than 100 employees following disappointing sales of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This marks a significant downsizing for the renowned RPG developer, which previously employed over 200 people during Veilguard’s development and had upwards of 400 employees across three studios at its peak.

The layoffs come after EA announced that Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet expectations. Bloomberg reports that EA had planned to reassign BioWare developers to other projects as pre-production began on the next Mass Effect game. However, Veilguard reportedly missed its player engagement target by 50%, leading to more drastic cuts.

This continues a trend of underperformance for BioWare over the past decade. Live-service game Anthem received poor reviews and was eventually shut down. Mass Effect: Andromeda failed to match the quality or sales of the original trilogy. Even remasters of past hits like the Mass Effect Legendary Edition have outperformed BioWare’s recent original releases.

Despite the layoffs, both Dragon Age: The Veilguard and EA Sports FC 25 received generally positive reviews from critics, with Metacritic scores of 82 and 76 respectively. However, sales and engagement numbers appear to have fallen short of EA’s expectations.

The dramatic reduction in staff size raises questions about BioWare’s future and ability to develop large-scale RPGs moving forward. EA has stated they are taking time to “reimagine” what BioWare will look like as a “more agile, focused studio.” The company’s next moves will likely determine whether the once-acclaimed developer can return to its former prominence in the RPG genre.