Electronic Arts is shutting its Edmonton RPG studio and cancelling early work on the next Mass Effect title as part of a wider studios rethink, while Don't Nod entered French safeguard proceedings and Xbox COO Helen Chiang left Microsoft.

Edmonton skyline
Photo: Matthew Boonstra / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

On 21 October, BioWare confirmed that the studio is closing and that early development on the next Mass Effect project is ending. In a staff memo reported by Variety, Cam Weber, president and chief studios officer, and David Tinson, president and chief operating officer, said EA would close BioWare's Canadian office in Edmonton. "BioWare is a legendary studio that helped define the role-playing genre, and we do not take this decision lightly," they wrote.

Bloomberg, cited by Reuters and The Verge, reported that EA plans to cut about 400 jobs, roughly 3 per cent of a workforce last reported at about 14,500, including around 50 roles at BioWare. The moves are among the first major studio changes since EA was taken private in a $55 billion deal led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, which closed in August.

EA said it would concentrate action-adventure investment on fewer large projects, while continuing Marvel's Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game. Weber and Tinson said Respawn and DICE would collaborate on a future project. Variety reported that multiple sources identified that project as Star Wars: Battlefront 3 for Lucasfilm. The company also said it was restructuring the skate. team into a smaller, more focused studio and pausing The Sims project known as Project Lotus in favour of Project Evergreen. EA said it would help affected employees explore other opportunities within the company.

Two days earlier, on 19 October, the Paris Business Court granted Don't Nod Entertainment SA's request to open safeguard proceedings, according to a company release published on 20 October. The court appointed SELARL Détroit, represented by Maître Charles-Henri Carboni, as administrator and opened an initial six-month observation period. Pre-existing liabilities are frozen for the duration of the proceedings.

Don't Nod said the procedure is intended to secure continuity and support a search for sustainable financing. The studio's French transformation plan, first outlined on 1 September, would refocus French operations around a single production line and could affect up to 85 positions in France, with no impact on the Montreal studio. Half-year figures in the same release showed H1 2026 revenue of €6.1 million, down 14 per cent, an operating EBITDA loss of €4.3 million, and cash of €9.9 million at end-June. Average group headcount fell from 279 to 194 full-time equivalents between June 2025 and June 2026.

On 23 October, Xbox chief executive Asha Sharma told staff that Helen Chiang was leaving Microsoft, according to an internal memo seen by The Verge. Chiang, a 21-year Microsoft veteran who led Minecraft before becoming Xbox's first chief operating officer in July, left the same day. Sharma said immediate responsibilities would be split among other Xbox leaders and that more would be shared on COO leadership as plans were finalised. Microsoft declined to discuss the circumstances. "We don't discuss individual personnel matters," Xbox communications vice president Kari Perez told The Verge.

For the hiring market, the week removes a long-standing RPG employer from Edmonton, places up to 85 French Don't Nod roles under consultation, and leaves Xbox's top operating seat vacant three months after it was created. Candidates displaced by the EA cuts will compete for openings on remaining large franchises and at studios still hiring, while compliance, finance and restructuring experience is likely to stay in demand at European independents navigating court-supervised turnarounds.

Sources