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