Key Dragon Age developers have announced their departure from BioWare following the studio's restructuring to focus on the next Mass Effect game. On January 29, IGN reported that BioWare had reassigned several developers to other projects within EA, allowing the studio to concentrate solely on Mass Effect 5.

BioWare's general manager, Gary McKay, stated that the studio is "taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work." He added, "Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio. We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit."

IGN learned that EA has successfully placed an unspecified number of BioWare developers into equivalent roles within the company. However, a smaller group of Dragon Age team members are facing termination, though they are being given the opportunity to apply for other positions within EA.

Following the announcement, several BioWare developers publicly announced their departure via social media. Notable among them are editor Karin West-Weekes, narrative designer and lead writer on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Trick Weekes, editor Ryan Cormier, producer Jen Cheverie, and senior systems designer Michelle Flamm, all of whom are now seeking new employment opportunities.

BioWare had previously experienced layoffs in 2023, and last week, Dragon Age: The Veilguard director Corinne Busche also announced her exit from the studio.

When IGN sought more details from EA regarding the number of affected BioWare employees, potential layoffs, and the current headcount at the studio, EA's response was vague: "The studio's priority was Dragon Age. During this time there were people continuing to build the vision for the next Mass Effect. Now that The Veilguard has shipped, the studio's full focus is Mass Effect. While we're not sharing numbers, the studio has the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development."

The development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard concluded last week with what appears to be its final major update. The game, marking the first new entry in the fantasy RPG series in a decade, did not meet expectations. BioWare confirmed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard would not receive any post-launch DLC, disappointing fans who anticipated expansions akin to those of previous Dragon Age titles.

EA revealed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard fell short of sales targets by 50%, achieving only 1.5 million players against an expected three million. The game's development faced numerous challenges, including layoffs and the departure of several project leads at various stages, as previously reported.

Regarding the next Mass Effect game, EA mentioned that a "core team" at BioWare, led by veterans from the original trilogy such as Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others, is currently in the development process.