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Patricia is the former editor-in-chief of Kotaku, where she spent a decade writing and editing. Prior to that, she served as the Culture Editor at Polygon, and as a reporter at The Verge. Hernandez specializes in Pokémon TCG, Nintendo, and offbeat internet culture stories.
The studio, which was working on a new Mass Effect, had a profound impact on the lives of RPG players and creators
BioWare's closure leaves gaming industry in shock and mourning
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Electronic Arts revealed on Wednesday that the legendary RPG studio BioWare is no more. The sudden shuttering wasn't exactly a surprise to onlookers — recent BioWare releases received mixed reviews and middling sales numbers — but deep down, many were hoping that the developer could find its footing again. Seemingly every gamer and industry worker of a certain era still has fond memories of surviving Mass Effect 2's suicide mission, or romancing a character in Dragon Age: Origins.
After Bloomberg reported that EA was doubling down on its most successful franchises and closing BioWare, the gaming industry found itself in a state of mourning. Many are sharing the ways in which BioWare shaped their love of video games, and revealing how their professional paths intersected with the legendary RPG studio. Despite recent controversial releases like Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Anthem, BioWare is inextricable from the world of video games.
Why is BioWare's closure hitting RPG fans so hard?
Through games like Mass Effect, BioWare popularized choice-driven game design that proliferates to this day in series like The Witcher and Undertale. BioWare didn't invent such conventions — but as the controversy behind Mass Effect 3's ending proves, the studio undoubtedly helped shape the fantasy of a video game where your choices truly matter. It is a dream big-budget video games are still chasing in 2026, and you cannot talk about that design philosophy without talking about Commander Shepard.
In its own way, BioWare taught many gamers about the limits of game development. The dreams shaping video games will always be lofty, and they're usually brought crashing down by the messy reality of budgets and management. Even when BioWare disappointed people, the feeling that has stuck with everyone above all is that the studio made people believe. In a world of easy cynicism — and as more beloved gaming companies are bought up by conglomerates — that's no easy feat.
No wonder, then, that the video game industry is reacting so strongly to BioWare's closure. "BioWare is a company that changed my life," said Satoru Homma of CD Projekt Red. "Without BioWare, Edgerunners might not have existed."