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BioWare Announces Layoffs Affecting 50 Employees

Bioware-Announces-Layoffs-Affecting-50-Employees

General manager Gary McKay says these layoffs are “necessary to ensure the health of the studio”.

The announcement was made via blogpost by the General manager of Bioware Gary McKay who described the post as “deeply painful and humbling to write.”

The blog post stated:

that the move was to “ preserve the health of the studio and better enable us to do what we do best: create exceptional story-driven single-player experiences filled with vast worlds and rich characters.
In order to meet the needs of our upcoming projects, continue to hold ourselves to the highest standard of quality, and ensure BioWare can continue to thrive in an industry that’s rapidly evolving, we must shift towards a more agile and more focused studio.
It will allow our developers to iterate quickly, unlock more creativity, and form a clear vision of what we’re building before development ramps up.
To achieve this, we find ourselves in a position where change is not only necessary but unavoidable. As difficult as this is to say, rethinking our approach to development inevitably means reorganizing our team to match the studio’s changing needs. “

This move will cause 50 employees to lose their jobs at BioWare but McKay wrote :

”We are doing everything we can to ensure the process is handled with empathy, respect, and clear communication”.

Gary McKay
Gary McKay

McKay also stated that their decision to take action at this time aims to provide affected employees with the chance to explore alternative opportunities within the company.

This step is being taken as there is a notable number of vacant positions within EA’s various other studios.

While the gaming industry is renowned for its tendency to carry out substantial employee layoffs, this decision does appear somewhat unusual, considering the current development of two major games.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

The two major games BioWare is working on at the moment are Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and a brand-new Mass Effect game.

Regarding Dragon Age McKay said:

“Our dedication to the game has never wavered. Our commitment remains steadfast, and we all are working to make this game worthy of the Dragon Age name. We are confident that we’ll have the time needed to ensure Dreadwolf reaches its full potential. “He continued by saying that “pre-production work” on a new Mass Effect game is also continuing under “a core veteran team led by Mike Gamble.”

Evidently, being employed in the gaming industry poses inherent risks, with job security remaining uncertain regardless of a company’s size or the value of its games.