EA Lays Off 400 Workers and Closes BioWare, Staff Describe Secretive Process

Electronic Arts is laying off 400 workers across several studios, and it has closed BioWare, the team behind the Mass Effect games. Eurogamer reported the cuts on 29 October 2026, and said BioWare had around 50 staff left before most of them were let go in the closure.

The plan first came to light on 21 October 2026, when Reuters and Bloomberg reported it. Bloomberg said the job cuts are part of a plan to save up to US$700 million. Variety put the restructuring at about 3% of EA's employees. EA also cancelled projects as it narrows its game lineup to focus on the titles that earn the most money.

Some of the context goes back further. EA was bought for US$55 billion by a group of investors, chiefly Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The deal left the company with about US$20 billion of debt.

The way staff were told has drawn attention of its own. According to Eurogamer, affected employees were called to a Zoom meeting with the chat switched off and other participants hidden. They had no chance to ask questions or say goodbye to colleagues. Current and former staff described a culture of secrecy around the layoffs, and said it was often unclear who had been affected.

EA defended its approach. It said not disclosing layoffs was intended to "protect the privacy of anybody impacted." One former employee said colleagues who had worked directly with her only learned she had been laid off from LinkedIn, the professional networking site.

Morale is another thread in the report. An EA source told Eurogamer that morale had been terrible, and that management kept repeating the line "do less, better." Staff also said upper management was excited about Claude, an AI assistant made by Anthropic, and generative AI more broadly. Eurogamer reported that the enthusiasm was not welcomed by many employees.

The cuts are not the only large layoffs in the games business right now. Eurogamer also reported that Microsoft's Xbox division is running several waves of layoffs, with a goal of removing 3,200 people. Variety has reported that EA's Respawn and DICE studios are working together on a Star Wars project.

For the people affected, the details are personal. For players of Mass Effect, the news is that the studio that made the series is no longer open.