Today, EA announced that it’s shutting down BioWare, the storied RPG studio behind the original Baldur’s Gate games, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, and many more beloved games. The news comes after the studio struggled with games like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, and planned to release a fifth Mass Effect game initially teased in 2020. This also follows EA’s acquisition by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake Partners, and Affinity Partners, a private equity firm owned by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
I'M GOING TO FUCKING JUMP OFF A CLIFF MASS EFFECT IS DEAD WHAT THE FUCK https://t.co/qjt4mm5Vk4
— Kala Elizabeth (@kalaelizabeth) October 21, 2026
FUCKING HELL BIOWARE IS DEAD 😫💔 SOMEONE PLEASE SAVE MASS EFFECT FFS https://t.co/DGAHXCbeUu pic.twitter.com/twdRORFu44
— KG (@XxiKGixX) October 21, 2026
The fact that Electronic Arts gutted and demolished them over the course of decades before finally killing the studio after selling to Saudi Arabia–where LGBTQ+ lives are still illegal and can come with a death penalty–is one of the most shameful, disgusting indictments of the industry as a whole.
— Zoe TunnHELL (@zoewithasword.bsky.social) 2026-10-21T17:16:33.522Z
I fell to my knees… pic.twitter.com/oTQ3Xi8LQ9
— The Black Hokage (@TheBlackHokage) October 21, 2026
Consolidation is killing our industry. The Gamergaters who make money off the rage game will have you think this is a victory. This is purely a loss. A loss of work and art and fun and expression in a space that desperately needs it.
Massive fucking bummer.
— alyssa mercante (@alyssamerc.bsky.social) 2026-10-21T17:11:37.342Z
Some will likely say the news wasn’t surprising, as the company had been publicly struggling in the decade since Dragon Age: Inquisition, and had downsized last year in hopes of being a more agile studio as it continued to work on the fifth Mass Effect. But now that the day has finally come, the internet is reacting to EA’s decision with the kind of anger you’d expect after watching the studio get dragged through the mud as the publisher chased dreams of live-service success.
This news comes just weeks before N7 Day, BioWare’s annual Mass Effect holiday in which the studio typically gave updates, however small, about Mass Effect 5. Now, it will likely be up to fans to make November 7 feel like anything other than a terrible bummer.