EA closes Bioware, 400 laid off across EA

[Bofferbrauer2]

JEMC said:

I genuinely thought EA would led Bioware ship the new Mass Effect before deciding to close it down or not, making this move surprising, at least to me.
It's easy to say this now, but I don't think this would have happened if Zampella was still alive and at EA.

Well, that leaves Exodus and The Expanse as not only the closest, but also the only options for those of us that wanted to play something similar to a Mass Effect game, and it also leaves EA without another IP for fans to look after.

It depends on how much along the development of the new Mass Effect was. If it would still take several years until completion then I can understand why they would cut their studio now, if it was about to be finished, then it would have been a very stupid move (though in line with EA's actions).

Bolded: I wish Trip Hawkins never left EA to create 3DO. The console died and as a publisher led Might & Magic to get destroyed and gobbled up by Ubisoft, while as a boss at EA he was able to rein in all their more negative impulses. Until he left EA was a great studio and publisher, hence why studios like Bullfrog or Origin Systems joined them.

And yes, one less EA IP to worry about. At this rate I see the big publishers becoming entities that release just a single title every year, like EA becoming just a developer for Fifa EA Sports FC, while Activision just releases a yearly Call of Duty and Ubisoft every year a new Just Dance - while collectively sitting on a giant hoard of unused IPs.