BioWare announces closure after 31 years
BioWare, the legendary video game studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, is shutting down after 31 years of operation. The closure is being framed as a cost-saving measure by its parent company, Electronic Arts.
Why it matters
The loss of a major AAA studio highlights ongoing instability and consolidation trends within the global video game industry.
The Reapers have come, spelling the end of an age for Alberta’s only AAA video game studio as BioWare announced Wednesday it would be shutting down.
The studio behind beloved games and franchises like Baldur’s Gate , Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic , Mass Effect , and Dragon Age was founded in Edmonton in 1995.
“After more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending,” the studio wrote in an announcement online.
BioWare once also had offices across North America, including in Montreal, San Francisco, California, and Austin, Texas.
The company was acquired by Electronic Arts (EA) in 2007. Recently, EA was acquired by a group of buyers, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners, which is led by U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to the BBC.
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Electronic Arts Closes Legendary Game Studio BioWare After Three Decades
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