Abstract:
Recently, EA officially announced a large-scale internal restructuring plan, BioWare (BioWare) was officially closed, and the new "Mass Effect" project in the early development stage was directly canceled. At the same time, the new "Sims" game code-named "Project Lotus" was axed. The company will lay off about 400 people, accounting for 3% of the total number of employees, of which about 50 people are from BioWare Edmonton Studio.
BioWare is a legendary studio that defines the modern role-playing game genre, creating the "Baldur's Gate", "Mass Effect" and "Dragon Age" series. EA officials said: "BioWare is a legendary studio that has shaped the RPG industry, and we do not make this decision lightly." BioWare had less than a hundred employees before its closure, and was mainly invested in the early-stage research and development of the next-generation "Mass Effect". The project was terminated before it entered the actual production stage.
EA completed a US$55 billion leveraged buyout in August this year and became a private enterprise. It is burdened with high debts. Management requested to reduce R&D expenditures and plans to reduce costs by up to US$700 million. The commercial sales of "Dragon Age: Shadowkeep" were lower than expected, which also accelerated this business adjustment.
List of changes in this restructuring project
BioWare & Mass Effect
BioWare is permanently closed, and early projects for the new "Mass Effect" are completely cancelled. The IP copyrights of "Mass Effect" and "Dragon Age" are still owned by EA, but there is no news of restarting new games or selling IP. The fate of Amazon's "Mass Effect" TV series project is still unclear. BioWare officially issued a farewell statement: We are more than just a studio, we are a home for creators and players. At this stage, we prioritize the proper placement of laid-off employees.
The Sims Series
The new work codenamed Project Lotus was canceled directly. Another "The Sims" project code-named Project Evergreen has been retained and promoted to a priority development project to continue advancing.
Other project changes
The free skateboarding game "skate" project is retained, but the size of the development team has been significantly reduced. Key additional resources: "Apex Legends", EA SPORTS sports product line, "Star Wars: Jedi" sequel, and Marvel's new "Iron Man". The "Battlefield" series continues to be developed, and Respawn and DICE will cooperate on a new project, which is rumored to be "Star Wars: Battlefront 3". The "Fight Night" fighting series has begun preliminary preparations, and a new open-world American football game is also under development.
After the news of BioWare's closure was released, a large number of fans and industry developers posted messages to mourn this legendary studio. CDPR executives publicly expressed regret that in the early years, BioWare lent a game engine to CDPR to help develop the first generation of "The Witcher". Former BioWare screenwriter Patrick Weekes speculated that the value orientation of the new controlling shareholder may also be a potential factor that prompted EA to ax BioWare.
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