BioWare's Dragon Age: The Veilguard Team Shrinks Below 100 After Layoffs

BioWare, the renowned game development studio, has experienced a significant reduction in staff, now employing fewer than 100 people. This downsizing follows the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and a strategic shift to concentrate solely on the upcoming Mass Effect game. Just two years ago, during the peak of Dragon Age: The Veilguard's production, BioWare's workforce exceeded 200 employees.

Last week, EA restructured BioWare to focus exclusively on Mass Effect 5. This decision resulted in some Dragon Age: The Veilguard team members being reassigned to other projects within EA. For instance, John Epler, the creative director of Veilguard, has transitioned to work on Full Circle's Skate, while senior writer Sheryl Chee has moved to Motive to work on Iron Man. These reassignments, initially considered temporary, have now become permanent, effectively reducing BioWare's employee count.

The restructuring comes after Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet EA's expectations, engaging only 1.5 million players in its recent financial quarter—a number nearly 50% lower than projected.

In the wake of these changes, several BioWare developers, including editor Karin West-Weekes, narrative designer and lead writer Trick Weekes, editor Ryan Cormier, producer Jen Cheverie, and senior systems designer Michelle Flamm, announced their layoffs and are now seeking new employment opportunities. This marks BioWare's second round of layoffs in less than a year, following a previous reduction in 2023 and the recent departure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard director Corinne Busche.

EA has remained non-committal about the specifics of the layoffs, stating only that BioWare now has "the right number of people in the right roles" to focus on Mass Effect. Bloomberg reported that approximately two dozen employees were affected by these layoffs. According to Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, the successful release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a complete game was considered a "miracle" given the challenges posed by EA's fluctuating directives regarding live-service elements.

As Dragon Age fans express concern over the future of the series, one former BioWare writer reassured fans by saying, "Dragon Age isn't dead because it's yours now."

Meanwhile, EA confirmed that a dedicated "core team" at BioWare, led by veterans from the original Mass Effect trilogy including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley, is now working on the next installment in the Mass Effect series.