EA Slashes 400 Jobs, Closes BioWare

EA just shut down BioWare and cut 400 jobs, including the entire Mass Effect studio. The company confirmed that 50 BioWare employees will leave. The other 350 roles are now spilling into Maxis, Ripple Effect, EA Motive, Full Circle, and Respawn. This comes from an anonymous source and LinkedIn posts from senior staff. Maxis director Anna Huerta, Ripple Effect artists Brandon Garcia, Corey Thomas, Turner Spring, and EA Motive's Jamieson Shearer announced departures. Respawn's Catheryn Grant and Full Circle's David Milne and John Epler were also impacted. EA paused work on its unannounced Sims title Project Lotus to focus on Project Evergreen. The layoffs come after the $55 billion buyout by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. The deal pledged $700 million in annual cost cuts.