When things take a turn for the worse, nothing can assure us that things will turn out well. Unfortunately, we live in a capitalist system, and that means if it’s necessary to lay off people to make the numbers work, individuals will be let go. Regardless of their talent, history, or needs. At the end of the day, the numbers are what matter. Cold and harsh. Something that’s not an exception in the gaming industry, and on days like today, the news breaks our hearts a little.
BioWare has announced that they have laid off around 50 people. Being a studio of approximately 300 individuals, this signifies a significant reduction in their workforce, which is not exactly promising for the studio’s future.
Gary McKay, the General Manager of the studio, has clarified in a studio statement the reasons for doing this. According to him, in order to achieve the quality standards they set and to continue growing in a rapidly evolving industry, they need to change to become a more agile and focused studio. This requires them to eliminate around 50 positions within the studio.
However, this reasoning sounds, at the very least, strange, from the moment we’ve learned about some of the positions that have been cut. Although we’ll probably know more in the days to come, we know that writer Mary Kirby, who has been behind the scripts of all three Dragon Age games and the acclaimed Star Wars: The Old Republic, is one of the individuals whose work has been abruptly eliminated.
These are not good news for fans, especially when BioWare has announced a return to the Dragon Age franchise. Announced in 2018 under the name Dragon Age Dreadwolf, with this wave of layoffs and a key figure like Kirby, who has always been integral, being let go, it’s only natural to harbor doubts about the future of the project and the studio. That’s why, even though McKay says they are confident that Dreadwolf will reach its full potential, which is why its release was recently postponed, this decision conveys quite the opposite message, even if unintended.
Some of the links added in the article are part of affiliate campaigns and may represent benefits for Softonic.
