‘Mass Effect: Andromeda’ studio merging with EA’s Motive, as we all try to forget its existence

I had a whole post typed up about this news, filled with my usual idiocy and snark. But then my computer froze. Oh well. Mass Effect: Andromeda‘s studio is dead, the franchise is frozen, and I’m happy about the former and sad about the latter.

Rock Paper Shotgun:

Electronic Arts are merging BioWare Montreal, the spin-off studio who made Mass Effect: Andromeda, into Motive Studios. EA say that “more than ever, we’re driving collaboration between studios on key projects”. It seems that, after Andromeda, the folks of BioWare Montreal are being drafted to work on others’ projects again. Motive, who are also in Montreal, are currently chipping in on Star Wars Battlefront 2 and we know they’re working on something new — supposedly an Assassin’s Creed-ish open-world action game — too.

After muttering about bringing the studios together in a public financial conference call last week, EA confirmed the merger in a statement to TechRaptor:

“The teams in EA Worldwide Studios are packed with talent, and more than ever, we’re driving collaboration between studios on key projects. 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.”

“BioWare continues its work on new titles – including the highly-anticipated game, Anthem. What’s coming next for BioWare is very exciting, and we’re thrilled to have Casey Hudson returning to lead the studios in Edmonton and Austin.”

We had known since May that EA were shuffling BioWare Montrealers onto other projects, but this is a step beyond that.

BioWare Montreal was founded in 2009. After helping out on Mass Effect with the original BioWare, the one EA call BioWare Edmonton, Montreal got to take the lead for Andromeda. It was a bit disappointing.