BioWare Montreal was relegated to a "support studio" role back in May, following the tepid reaction to Mass Effect: Andromeda, a reduction in status that saw a number of its employees moved to the also-Montreal-based EA Motive. During a conference call earlier this month, however, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen revealed something deeper was going on when he said that the entire studio had actually been moved into Motive's offices.
"We're building out a new studio in Montreal, as we've told everyone. And we've hired over 100 people into that studio that are brand-new to EA. This is to build the new IP around Jade Raymond's team that she's been building," Jorgensen said. "It's a wonderful new addition to our team. And we brought our BioWare Montreal team into that same facility. So they now all sit in one new studio together."
And if you get the feeling that maintaining two studios in one building isn't a situation that's likely to last—especially when one of them has recently been downgraded to a supporting role—well, you're on to something. EA confirmed in a statement sent to Techraptor that BioWare Montreal is being folded entirely into Motive.
"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," EA said.
"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.”
EA Motive, founded by former Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond, is currently working on Star Wars Battlefront 2, as well as an untitled Star Wars project being developed in conjunction with Visceral.
