RIP BioWare: EA shuts down storied RPG studio after over three decades

The legendary studio behind series like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is no more. BioWare announced via social media Wednesday afternoon that “after more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending.”

这家曾打造《质量效应》、《龙腾世纪》、《无冬之夜》以及《星球大战：旧共和国武士》等系列游戏的传奇工作室已不复存在。BioWare 周三下午通过社交媒体宣布：“在共同经历了三十多年的冒险之后，BioWare 即将关闭，下一部《质量效应》项目的早期开发工作也随之终止。”

The official announcement was posted mere minutes after a Bloomberg report detailed 400 job cuts across BioWare parent company Electronic Arts, including 50 at BioWare, based on reports from “a person familiar with the company’s plans.” “Across our portfolio, we’re making deliberate choices to align talent and investments where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth,” EA executives wrote in a message to staff, according to Bloomberg.

在这一官方公告发布前几分钟，彭博社曾报道称 BioWare 的母公司艺电（Electronic Arts）将裁员 400 人，其中包括 BioWare 的 50 名员工，该消息援引自“一位熟悉公司计划的人士”。据彭博社报道，EA 高管在给员工的信息中写道：“在我们的整个产品组合中，我们正在做出审慎的选择，将人才和投资配置到我们认为对玩家和长期增长最具机遇的领域。”

Following its 1995 founding in Edmonton, Alberta, BioWare first came under the EA umbrella through a 2007 purchase, before Mass Effect and Dragon Age were even a thing. At the time, EA’s then-CEO, John Riccitiello, called BioWare one of “the most respected studios in the industry” that would “make a strong contribution to our strategic growth initiatives on quality, online gaming and developing new intellectual properties. We also expect this will drive long-term value for our shareholders.”

BioWare 于 1995 年在阿尔伯塔省埃德蒙顿成立，在《质量效应》和《龙腾世纪》问世之前，便通过 2007 年的收购被纳入 EA 旗下。当时，EA 时任首席执行官约翰·里奇蒂洛（John Riccitiello）称 BioWare 是“业内最受尊敬的工作室之一”，并将“为我们在质量、在线游戏和开发新知识产权方面的战略增长计划做出重大贡献。我们也期待这将为我们的股东带来长期价值。”

Of course, EA doesn’t have public stockholders anymore after a $55 billion deal led by Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners took the company private last year. At the time of that move, analysts told Ars to expect “layoffs, studio closures, and [selling] of IP” as the newly private and now heavily debt-ridden company put “a bigger focus on live services, more focus on annual sports franchises, [and] microtransactions” to help increase profits.

当然，在银湖资本（Silver Lake）、沙特阿拉伯公共投资基金以及贾里德·库什纳（Jared Kushner）的 Affinity Partners 主导了一项 550 亿美元的交易，使公司于去年私有化后，EA 已不再拥有公开的股东。在这一举措实施时，分析师曾告诉 Ars，预计会出现“裁员、工作室关闭和知识产权出售”的情况，因为这家新私有化且背负沉重债务的公司将“更加关注实时服务、年度体育系列游戏以及微交易”，以帮助提高利润。

In more recent years, BioWare has also been beset by a number of high-profile departures, including founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk in 2012 and longtime producer Mac Walters in 2023. Executive producer Casey Hudson, who left BioWare in 2014, ended up returning in 2017 before leaving yet again in 2020. The studio has faced its fair share of troubles following those departures, too, including muted critical and fan receptions for games like Mass Effect Andromeda and Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

近年来，BioWare 也受到了一系列高层离职的影响，包括 2012 年创始人雷·穆齐卡（Ray Muzyka）和格雷格·泽斯查克（Greg Zeschuk）的离开，以及 2023 年长期担任制作人的麦克·沃尔特斯（Mac Walters）的离职。执行制作人凯西·哈德森（Casey Hudson）于 2014 年离开 BioWare，后于 2017 年回归，又在 2020 年再次离职。在这些人员变动之后，该工作室也面临了不少麻烦，包括《质量效应：仙女座》和《龙腾世纪：影障守护者》等游戏在评论界和玩家群体中反响平平。

Anthem, the studio’s attempt at a live-service open-world shooter, turned out more ambitious than engaging for most and was recently shuttered for good well after plans for a sweeping overhaul were aborted. “What generations of BioWare built together is something to celebrate and remember,” the company wrote in its goodbye post. “These games became so much more because you played them, debated your choices, fell in love with the characters, and made these worlds your own. From all of us at BioWare, thank you for being the most meaningful part of our story.”

该工作室尝试开发的实时服务开放世界射击游戏《圣歌》，最终被大多数人认为野心有余而吸引力不足，在全面重构计划被放弃后，该游戏近期已被彻底关闭。公司在告别帖中写道：“几代 BioWare 人共同建立的一切值得庆祝和铭记。因为你们的游玩、对选择的讨论、对角色的热爱，以及将这些世界变成你们自己的世界，这些游戏才变得意义非凡。代表 BioWare 全体员工，感谢你们成为我们故事中最有意义的一部分。”