BioWare pre-production team starts cooking up Mass Effect 5: 'Our full focus is on Mass Effect'

BioWare isn't ready to enter full production on the next Mass Effect game, so EA has moved core BioWare dev teams to other projects.

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Now that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has shipped (and missed targets), BioWare is now focusing on its next big AAA project: Mass Effect 5. But the studio isn't quite ready to ramp up to full production just yet. ME5 starts out as all game do: with a small, tight-knit core team that outlines the vision in pre-production phases--in this case, the game is being led by series vets like Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley.

So what do the other BioWare devs do while the smaller team outlines the early framework for ME5? According to general manager Gary McKay, they can find new jobs/placement at other EA studios. It feels like BioWare is shedding extraneous teams to reduce costs while re-allocating resources for parent EA, who is assuredly disappointed with the performance of BioWare's most recent game.

Here's what McKay said in the memo:

We are taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work at BioWare.

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.

Today's news will see BioWare become a more agile, focused studio that produces unforgettable RPGs. We appreciate your support as we build a new future for BioWare.

IGN's Rebekah Valentine also received comment on the exact size of BioWare's core dev team. This is a good question considering BioWare has had a considerable number of high-profile departures over the past 5 years, including some people that had been there for nearly two decades.

A rep told IGN:

"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."

Here's a list of BioWare departures as of 2022:

Here's a list of the major BioWare departures over recent years:

Noteworthy BioWare Departures

• Drew Karpyshyn, lead writer on Mass Effect and Anthem, left in 2012, and then again in 2018
• David Gaider, lead writer of Dragon Age series, left in 2016
• Chris Schlerf, writer on Mass Effect: Andromeda, left in 2016
• Ian Frazier, Lead Designer of Mass Effect: Andromeda, shifted from BioWare to EA Motive in 2017
• Aaron Flynn, ex-General Manager, left in July 2017, shortly after Mass Effect: Andromeda's launch and after 17 years with BioWare (replaced by Casey Hudson, who previously had left in 2014)
• Mike Laidlaw, ex-Dragon Age creative director, left in October 2017 after 14 years with BioWare
• James Ohlen, lead designer on Baldur's Gate, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age: Origins, leaves BioWare in July 2018 after 22 years
• Ben Irving, lead producer on Anthem, left August 2019 after 8 years with the company
• Fernando Melo, producer on Mass Effect Andromeda, Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age 2, senior producer on Dragon Age 4, left August 2019 after 12 years with company
• Mark Darrah, executive producer on Dragon Age, Anthem, Mass Effect Andromeda, left BioWare in 2020 after 23 years with the company
• Casey Hudson, general manager, rejoined BioWare in 2017 to lead as GM and left in 2020, spent nearly 20 years with the studio
• Jonathan Warner, Chief of staff, director on Anthem and producer on Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, Mass Effect trilogy, left BioWare in March 2021 after nearly 10 years with the studio
• Christian Dailey, ex-Dragon Age executive producer left in February 2022 after 4 years with the company.