author: Zuzanna Domeradzka
N7 Day Ends Overshadowed by Controversy of layoffs at BioWare
This year's N7 Day is looking less joyous than before, and this is due to the layoffs that have recently occurred at the developers of the Mass Effect series. The atmosphere is made even more tense by the conflict between former Keywords Studios employees and Electronic Arts, who staged a strike.
Today marks N7 Day, during which fans of Mass Effect should focus on reminiscing about their favorite games from BioWare or looking ahead to a future installment. Although this year we actually got something special from the developers, regarding the next installment of the series, the recent controversy surrounding the studio casts a shadow over the materials concerning it.
Testers vs. EA and BioWare
Today, former Keywords Studios employees who tested the already released Mass Effect: Legendary Edition and the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, were to stage a strike in front of BioWare's headquarters in Canada (via Kotaku). The whole commotion is indirectly caused by the actions of the studio responsible for the aforementioned RPG series.
A group of testers began working remotely for Keywords during the pandemic. After the hard period ended, the employees were to be persuaded to move to the office. They refused and unionized, but because BioWare broke its contract with Keywords, they were fired - at least that's the reason given by the other company.
So the testers decided to organize a strike to fight for their jobs. However, Keywords does not have any offices in Alberta, so the former employees took aim at BioWare's headquarters in Edmonton, which did not please Electronic Arts (to which BioWare belongs). The Alberta Labour Relations Board's labour law tribunal, however, sided with the strikers, as they were connecting to computers at BioWare's office while working remotely.
Keywords testers who were fired thus put their case, although they assured that they would not block access to the building for other studio employees and expressed willingness to talk. We will have to wait for the consequences of the strike, but the situation may affect the developers of Dragon Age. As an EA representative toldKotaku:
"We believe that any action against our offices is misguided, because BioWare is not involved in any way in the negotiations, and Epcor Tower [that the building in front of which the strike is taking place - editor's note] has never been a workplace for people from Keywords."
Consequences of the layoffs
In August of this year, BioWare laid off 50 developers, allegedly to help upcoming projects. There is no doubt that the studio's restructuring is somehow related to the strike described above, but not only to it. Some time ago several former employees decided to sue BioWare because of the low severance pay they received. Nw information from Kotaku journalists revealed, that the company does not want to make a settlement with the dismissed people and will settle the matter in court.
So this is certainly not a good time for BioWare, whose actions may disappoint not only the current employees, but also the fans.
