CANADA — BioWare says it is closing and ending early development of the next Mass Effect game, bringing an end to the Edmonton-based studio behind some of Canada's best-known role-playing games.

The studio announced the decision in an October 21 statement. It listed franchises including Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age and Mass Effect among its work over more than three decades.

BioWare said its immediate attention was on supporting staff through the transition. Its public statement did not give a shutdown date or a count of affected employees.

EA narrows its development portfolio

GamesBeat published a staff message from Electronic Arts executives Cam Weber and David Tinson saying the company had decided against proceeding with the next Mass Effect project and would close BioWare and its Edmonton workspace.

The executives described a small team working on the project and said EA would put resources behind fewer large projects. They also said affected employees would receive support exploring other opportunities inside the company.

GamesBeat reported about 400 job cuts across EA, while noting the company had not supplied that figure in its announcement. That reported company-wide number should not be read as the number of jobs lost at BioWare.

CityNews Edmonton separately confirmed the closure and cancellation. The announcement ends this early-development project; it does not, on its own, establish what EA may do with the Mass Effect franchise in the future.

Sources: BioWare's October 21 statement; CityNews Edmonton, October 21; GamesBeat report and reproduced EA staff message, October 21.

Editorial illustration of a darkened game-development workspace in Edmonton; not a photograph of BioWare's office.