Highlights
- Seven former BioWare employees have filed a lawsuit against the developer, claiming they were treated poorly and seeking fair severance pay.
- The employees allege that BioWare violated Canada’s Employment Standards Code and offered unsatisfactory terms during negotiations.
- The lawsuit adds to BioWare’s recent troubles, raising doubts about the studio’s ability to reach its past success, though the impact of the legal action remains uncertain.
Seven former employees are suing BioWare after being laid off in August, citing possible legal violations from the famed developer. BioWare is known for its groundbreaking RPG franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but it has fallen into troubled times in recent years. Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem were both met with mixed to negative reactions from gamers, and while 2021’s Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was greeted much more warmly, many are wondering if the once-acclaimed studio can reach the heights it once did.
These doubts only grew when BioWare announced that it was eliminating nearly 50 positions in August in order to streamline its workforce, with employees being reassigned to other positions within parent company EA or being laid off entirely. This followed EA’s own series of terminations from earlier this year, which were reportedly part of an effort to restructure the mega-publisher and cut development costs. While BioWare itself has assured fans that this shake-up won’t negatively affect upcoming titles like Dragon Age Dreadwolf and Mass Effect 4, some of the former employees who were let go are seeking legal action.
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Seven of the workers BioWare laid off in August have just filed a lawsuit against the developer. This Statement of Claim was filed with Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench, with the plaintiffs requesting fair severance pay and punitive damages for what they call “unreasonably poor treatment by BioWare.” The former employees are being represented by Worobec Law Offices lawyer R. Alex Kennedy, who stated that BioWare fired these workers without cause and may have violated Canada’s Employment Standards Code by trying to reduce said employees’ termination pay and benefits.
It’s alleged that BioWare employees attempted to negotiate with the developer when they were released, but the developer’s offers were less than satisfactory. One of the former BioWare employees involved in the new lawsuit stated that while they remain supportive of upcoming projects like Dragon Age Dreadwolf, they fail to understand BioWare’s actions and are struggling to find new employment ahead of the holiday season due to not being able to share their most recent portfolio work – which is currently subject to NDAs.
BioWare has been no stranger to bad news in recent years, and this lawsuit from former employees is yet another blemish on the once-acclaimed developer. So far, neither BioWare nor EA have commented on this latest development, and it remains to be seen just how the legal action being pursued by the former’s previous workers will affect things going forward.
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Source: IGN
