In the quiet aftermath of a studio's shutdown, a veteran developer has used a public post to mourn a game that will never ship. Tony de Waal, a longtime cinematic supervisor at BioWare, describes a Mass Effect project built by a small, dedicated team, aimed at a standard of player freedom he believes no rival has reached. Amid EA's broader restructuring, which cost roughly four hundred jobs, his account stands as a rare witness to what was lost, and to the human cost carried quietly by those who stayed until the end.
Former BioWare Cinematic Supervisor Says Canceled Mass Effect 5 Aimed for Unmatched Player Autonomy
About 400 people were laid off in EA's restructuring, including roughly 50 BioWare roles, with De Waal among those out of work.
Sad for the small, talented group punching above their weight
Mark
Why does a LinkedIn post from one cinematic supervisor matter?
Mimi
Because it's a rare look inside a canceled game. Tony de Waal was on the team, and he says they were aiming for a level of player autonomy and choice that no other game has matched.
Luke
That's his belief, though. He says "I believe we were making something special." Nobody outside has seen the game, so the claim can't be checked.
Mark
He mentions Larian and CD Projekt. What's the significance?
Mimi
He says BioWare saw what they were doing with their latest games and started down a path to take Mass Effect further, while staying true to the Trilogy. The article ties that to Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.
Luke
Careful, those two titles are the outlet's reading. De Waal named the studios, not the games.
Mark
What about the size of the team?
Mimi
He says he was among the "50-ish" people left at BioWare when the layoffs hit, which suggests a very small production team.
Luke
Suggests is the word. Bloomberg's figures are about 400 layoffs at EA, roughly 50 at BioWare. That doesn't tell us how many people were on Mass Effect 5 specifically.
Mark
And what does he want now?
Mimi
Work. He's pitching nearly three decades of cinematic production experience, and asking people to remember the colleagues who stayed until the end.
O Pulso
- A studio-wide layoff of roughly fifty BioWare staff lands on the team still working on the next Mass Effect, and the project is abruptly erased.
- EA's restructuring, which cut about four hundred jobs across its studios, leaves a skeleton crew adrift and the future of the franchise in doubt.
- Former cinematic supervisor Tony de Waal goes public on LinkedIn, mourning the canceled game while openly pitching himself to the industry.
- The lost project's ambitions, measured against Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, remain known only through one insider's account, with no design details yet confirmed and the rest of the laid-off staff still searching for their next steps.
In the quiet aftermath of a studio's shutdown, a veteran developer has used a public post to mourn a game that will never ship. Tony de Waal, a longtime cinematic supervisor at BioWare, describes a Mass Effect project built by a small, dedicated team, aimed at a standard of player freedom he believes no rival has reached. Amid EA's broader restructuring, which cost roughly four hundred jobs, his account stands as a rare witness to what was lost, and to the human cost carried quietly by those who stayed until the end.
On LinkedIn, veteran game developer Tony de Waal posted two things at once: a eulogy for a project and a pitch for his next job. He was a cinematic supervisor at BioWare, one of the roughly fifty people still at the studio when layoffs arrived. The next Mass Effect, the game they had been building, no longer exists.
The cuts followed a broad EA restructuring that eliminated about four hundred jobs, including the BioWare roles. De Waal says Mass Effect 5 was being shaped by a very small team with a clear ambition: a level of autonomy and choice no other game has matched. The team had watched what Larian and CD Projekt were doing and set out to push Mass Effect further while staying faithful to the original trilogy.
De Waal's history with the studio runs more than twenty-nine years. He returned in 2021 to help bring Dragon Age: The Veilguard to completion, a herculean effort he says tested even his workaholic instincts. He takes pride in the polish achieved in the Frostbite engine, and he pointed to the hidden complexity behind it: a variable player character running through more than three hours of cinematics, with countless conditions to track in the late-game scenes.
His tone turned to grief when he wrote of Mass Effect 5. He is sad that fans will never see what the team was cooking, and sadder still for the small group who punched above their weight. He asked readers to remember those who stayed until the end.
Then he turned to his own situation. He presented himself as a production expert with nearly three decades of cinematic, tools, and narrative experience, ready to roll up his sleeves. He is once again looking for the next studio and project.
What the game would have been remains known only through his description. Beyond his claims about autonomy and choice, no details have surfaced, and the other laid-off BioWare staff have yet to say where they will land.
On LinkedIn, a veteran game developer named Tony de Waal posted both a eulogy for a project and a job-seeker's pitch. De Waal was a cinematic supervisor at BioWare, and he says he was one of the "50-ish" people still at the studio when they were laid off. The project they were working on, the next Mass Effect, no longer exists.
The cuts came after EA announced a broad restructuring across its studios and development projects. Bloomberg reported that about 400 people lost their jobs, including roughly 50 roles at BioWare. EA is also shutting down BioWare and canceling the next Mass Effect game. De Waal's account, which PC Gamer picked up, suggests that Mass Effect 5 was being built by a very small team.
He did not describe it as a modest effort. "I was one of the lucky ones who stayed with BioWare to start on the next Mass Effect," he wrote, "where I believe we were making something special: a level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match." He named the competition that shaped the work: the team saw what Larian and CD Projekt were doing with their latest games, which point to Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, and started down a path to take Mass Effect to the next level while staying true to the original Trilogy.
De Waal's history with the studio is long. He says he started at BioWare more than 29 years ago and left after Mass Effect 2 was released. In 2021 he came back to help get the project that became Dragon Age: The Veilguard back on track and out the door.
He was candid about what that took. He called it a herculean effort that tested the limits of even his workaholic mindset, and said he is proud of the polish the team achieved in the Frostbite engine. He also pointed to complexity players never see. In his words, nobody has any idea of the craziness under the hood to make a variable player character work across more than three hours of cinematics, or the number of conditions to account for in the scenes toward the end of the game.
On Mass Effect 5, his tone turned to regret. He said he is sad that fans won't get to see what the team was cooking, and sad for the small, talented group of developers who were punching above their weight to make something special. He asked readers to consider the people who stayed with BioWare until the very end, calling them some of the most talented people he has worked with in his career.
Then he made his own situation plain. He described himself as a production expert with nearly three decades of experience in cinematic production, in blending gameplay with cinematics, in tools and tech, and in realizing complicated narratives, and as someone willing to roll up his sleeves and create content. He is, he wrote, once again looking for the next studio and project.
What the game actually was remains known only through his description. No design details beyond his claims about autonomy and choice have surfaced, and the rest of the laid-off BioWare staff have yet to say where they will land.
Citações Notáveis
I was one of the lucky ones who stayed with BioWare to start on the next Mass Effect, where I believe we were making something special: a level of autonomy and choice that no other game has been able to match.— Tony de Waal, former BioWare cinematic supervisor, on LinkedIn
Please consider those who stayed with BioWare until the very end.— Tony de Waal
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