BioWare’s Montreal studio is to merge with EA Motive Studios, also based on Montreal, according to an EA spokesperson.
“The teams in EA Worldwide Studios are packed with talent, and more than ever, we’re driving collaboration between studios on key projects,” it was revealed. “With multiple major projects in development in Montreal, we are merging BioWare Montreal with Motive Studios. This is an ongoing process, but there are many exciting roles and opportunities for everyone on the team.”
This news comes after reports that BioWare Montreal scrapped plans for single-player DLC in Mass Effect: Andromeda and that the studio was downsized following the game’s poor reception. Many employees were already moved to Motive Studios prior to this announcement.
BioWare Montreal was formed in 2009 to aid BioWare Edmonton in developing Mass Effect 2 and 3. The team in Montreal then went on to helm Mass Effect: Andromeda to let Edmonton focus on Anthem, the ambitious upcoming shared-world RPG.
Motive Studios was founded in 2015 by Jade Raymond, a former Ubisoft executive and producer on the Assassin’s Creed series. Motive is currently working on the singe-player portion of Star Wars Battlefront 2 and an untitled Star Wars game co-developed by Visceral Games along with Amy Hennig, former creative director on the Uncharted series at Naughty Dog.
With mostly everyone previously at BioWare Montreal busy working on other projects now, it’s looking more and more grim for Mass Effect: Andromeda’s future.
