EA Cuts 3% of Staff and Closes BioWare in Studio Restructuring
Electronic Arts is laying off 3% of its employees and shutting down BioWare, the studio behind the Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games. Variety puts the number of affected staff at around 400, based on the company's last reported headcount of about 14,500.
The news arrived in a memo titled "Building EA's Next Chapter". Cam Weber, president and chief studios officer, and David Tinson, president and chief operating officer, sent it to staff on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. EA's memo says the company has decided against developing a new Mass Effect title. It will also close BioWare's Canadian office in Edmonton.
This is the first major move since EA went private in summer 2026, according to Variety. The memo also says EA has already started simplifying how it works, after teams asked for clearer priorities, faster decisions and closer collaboration. IGN notes the cuts come a few months after an earlier round of job losses at EA.
A new Star Wars shooter may be in the works. The memo mentions a project from Respawn Entertainment and DICE, two of EA's shooter studios. Variety, citing multiple sources, says that project is Star Wars Battlefront 3, and its headline uses that name. EA has not confirmed the title. DICE made the two earlier Star Wars Battlefront games for EA, released in 2015 and 2017.
The memo says the Respawn and DICE project will help EA reach its goal of a "shooter portfolio that unlocks growth". EA executives called Battlefield 6 a great success. They said the team learned a lot from its launch and from running it as a live-service game, meaning one sold and updated in seasons after release. Apex Legends, Respawn's free-to-play shooter, will get new multiplayer modes and other new experiences.
EA's memo sets three strategic priorities: Deepen Our Core, Expand Our Reach and Transform Our Business. Under the last one, EA says it will use its games and sports partnerships to create new ways for fans to engage with teams and athletes. Those investments will grow only when they show real potential.
Several projects are moving ahead. EA Sports is in pre-production on a return of the boxing game Fight Night, which has been on hiatus for 15 years. It is also developing Project Gridiron, a social-first, open-world American football experience. For The Sims, EA is prioritising a project called Project Evergreen and pausing another project to give that team more time.
EA's remaining action-adventure launches include Marvel's Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game, according to Variety.
The memo says EA made hard choices and said no to some projects, and that it is concentrating teams, technology and money behind its three priorities. For players, the most immediate change is that BioWare's games will no longer come from BioWare, and no new Mass Effect is in development.
