Bioware fired writer, Mary Kirby, and Varric’s creator, Mistress of the Qunari

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Bioware fired writer, Mary Kirby, and Varric’s creator, Mistress of the Qunari.

Dragon Age 4 – Mural of Wolf, Elf, and Lyrium Idol

It’s been a while since we’ve heard any official news from BioWare on either Dragon Age: Dreadowlf or the next Mass Effect, but today’s announcement is something that no one enjoys seeing. BioWare has officially announced that 50 people that were currently working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf are being laid off, with the reasoning behind the move explained as the studio trying to become “more agile and more focused”.

“In order to meet the needs of our upcoming projects, continue to hold ourselves to the highest standard of quality, and ensure BioWare can continue to thrive in an industry that’s rapidly evolving, we must shift towards a more agile and more focused studio,” McKay wrote. “It will allow our developers to iterate quickly, unlock more creativity, and form a clear vision of what we’re building before development ramps up.

“To achieve this, we find ourselves in a position where change is not only necessary, but unavoidable. As difficult as this is to say, rethinking our approach to development inevitably means reorganizing our team to match the studio’s changing needs. “

In practical terms, that ‘reorganization’ means that approximately 50 jobs at BioWare have been eliminated. McKay said the studio is doing all it can to help its former employees find jobs in other Electronic Arts studios, but acknowledged that “it’s unlikely that everyone will find a new role within the company.”

The corporate world is unforgiving, and the videogame industry in particular is notoriously fickle when it comes to how it treats employees: Layoffs are common, especially at major studios, and widely accepted as just a part of the business. Even so, the timing of these cuts comes off as odd. BioWare is deep into development on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, and also spinning up a new Mass Effect game, and with responsibility for Star Wars: The Old Republic handed off to another studio earlier this year, those two series are really all BioWare does now.

This announcement came via a blog post on the official BioWare website, and explains that the layoffs are also part of a goal to “preserve the health of the studio”. BioWare explains that the people affected by these layoffs are being offered as many internal opportunities as possible, and are being urged to apply for “a significant number of roles” across all of EA’s other studios. However, not all of the 50 workers will find a new role within the company.