EA’s now in the hands of Saudi Arabian oil kings and their Western and American partners. Of course, rumors abound about EA looking into all the ways it could cut costs, potentially bringing them down by hundreds of millions of dollars per annum. And one of the ways, apparently, is closing down or selling BioWare, one of its longest-standing studios.
This is according to Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw, who wrote on Bluesky that EA is “100 percent” looking into offloading BioWare as part of a broader cost-cutting initiative. Our Scott Duwe previously wrote how EA is some $20 billion in the red and planning to go through mass layoffs to offset some of that, though it seems an entire big studio could be on the chopping block too.
“They are going to be looking at several ways to cut hundreds of millions per year,” Straw wrote and confirmed that EA is definitely aiming its sights at BioWare. “Everyone I’ve spoken to expects large-scale layoffs within the first six to twelve months,” he said.
100%. They are going to looking at several ways to cut hundreds of millions per year. Everyone I've spoken to expects large scale layoffs within the first 6-12 months.
— Mike Straw | Insider-Gaming.com (@mikestrawmedia.com) 2026-08-05T12:45:16.428Z
Straw later explained how there is no guarantee that entire studios will close down but highlighted a growing negative sentiment among staff who are “rightfully worried” amid these drastic changes in leadership at one of gaming’s biggest companies.
Furthermore, BioWare is certainly among EA’s worst-performing studios. After all, it did release Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which wound up being a commercial and critical flop, and prior to it put out failed titles like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, to name a couple.
It’s now working on a new Mass Effect title, and I anticipated EA giving the studio one last shot before pulling its own trigger.
Everyone sort of half-expected EA to go down the drain once it fell into the hands of Saudi Arabian oil barons, but I for one thought there could be some good to come out of privatization in general.
It seems I was wrong, though, and now I’m certain not everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt.
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