BioWare, the video game studio behind sci-fi epic Mass Effect and fantasy saga Dragon Age, has been closed down.

The Canadian developer specialising in role-playing games was founded in 1995 and found millions of fans with its complex, branching narratives.

Its last two releases, however, did not meet sales expectations, and parent company Electronic Arts (EA) announced it had decided to close the studio as it cut 400 jobs across the business.

In its own statement, BioWare, which was working on a new Mass Effect game, thanked players for “being the most important part of the story” during its 31-year history.

The developer’s first big taste of success came in 1998 when it released role-playing game Baldur’s Gate, based on Dungeons and Dragons rules.

It became renowned for the quality of its games and in the late 2000s had twin successes with the Mass Effect trilogy and several Dragon Age games.

Mass Effect in particular is regarded as having a long-lasting influence on the video game industry thanks to its ambitious narrative and inclusion of same-sex relationships.

As industry trends changed, BioWare pivoted from single player to multiplayer games with the release of Anthem in 2019 – which disappointed fans and critics.

It followed up with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the fourth game in the series, in 2024.

The game’s protracted development cycle was blamed for its lukewarm reviews – particularly from long-time series fans, who complained it lacked the complex moral choices of its prequels.