How to Apply to BioWare

10 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 2 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • BioWare is an EA-owned Edmonton RPG studio in a difficult period: ~25% of staff cut in August 2023, further reductions in 2024, Veilguard underperformed commercially in October 2024.
  • Apply through careers.ea.com (Workday backend), filter by BioWare studio or Edmonton/Austin locations. There is no separate BioWare ATS.
  • Headcount sits at roughly 150 to 200, down from a 700+ peak. The next Mass Effect is the studio's central bet and is unlikely to ship before 2027 to 2028.
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic moved to Broadsword Online Games in May 2024, ending BioWare Austin's stewardship and shrinking that office further.
  • Tailor resume language to match Workday job-posting keywords exactly. Specialized craft credits (especially modding work on major RPGs) carry real weight.
  • Interviews are craft-first and honest. Take-home exercises for design and narrative roles are standard. Critical thinking about BioWare's recent work is welcomed, not penalized.
  • Edmonton relocation is a serious life decision: cold climate, smaller tech ecosystem than Vancouver or Toronto, anchored by Alberta game-industry tax credits.
  • Studio survival risk is real. EA's strategic reviews have repeatedly questioned BioWare's long-term future. Candidates should weigh that against the genuine creative opportunity of shipping the next Mass Effect.

About BioWare

BioWare is a Canadian role-playing game studio headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, with a much-reduced presence in Austin, Texas. Founded in 1995 by physicians-turned-developers Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, the studio built its reputation on story-driven RPGs across two decades: Baldur's Gate (1998-2001), Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), Jade Empire (2005), the Mass Effect trilogy (2007-2012), and the Dragon Age series beginning with Origins (2009). Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) acquired BioWare in 2007 as part of a roughly $860 million purchase that also included Pandemic Studios, which EA shuttered in 2009. BioWare became an EA flagship studio, but the relationship has grown increasingly strained. The studio's recent history is hard to romanticize. Anthem (2019) was a commercial and critical disaster that EA officially abandoned in 2021. Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017) underperformed and led to the dissolution of BioWare Montreal. In August 2023, BioWare laid off approximately 50 staff, around a quarter of the studio, including high-profile veterans such as longtime writer Mary DeMarle, former Mass Effect lead Mac Walters (who had already departed earlier that year), and other multi-decade developers. Further reductions followed in 2024. Headcount today sits in the 150 to 200 range in Edmonton, down from roughly 700 across BioWare studios at the company's 2010s peak. Studio General Manager Gary McKay has led BioWare since 2021 through this contraction. Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched in October 2024, BioWare's first new Dragon Age in a decade. Critical reception was mixed-positive, but commercial performance disappointed EA, which publicly flagged the game as below expectations during earnings calls. In May 2024, EA handed Star Wars: The Old Republic live operations to Broadsword Online Games, ending BioWare Austin's 13-year stewardship of the MMORPG and freeing the remaining team to support the next Mass Effect, which has been in development since at least 2018 and is unlikely to ship before 2027 or 2028. Larian Studios winning Game of the Year 2023 with Baldur's Gate 3 (a franchise BioWare originated) added a layer of industry irony to a difficult period. BioWare still has genuine RPG craft, voice talent relationships (Mark Meer, Jennifer Hale, Jo Wyatt, Brian Bloom), and a passionate player base. But candidates should weigh the studio's survival risk seriously. EA's strategic reviews have repeatedly raised questions about BioWare's long-term future, and Edmonton is a real life decision: cold winters, a smaller tech ecosystem than Vancouver or Toronto, and meaningful Alberta game-industry tax credits that anchor the studio there. Joining BioWare today means joining a smaller, more uncertain version of a once-dominant studio, with one major project (next Mass Effect) carrying disproportionate weight.

Application Process

  1. 1
    BioWare roles are posted on EA's careers site at careers

    BioWare roles are posted on EA's careers site at careers.ea.com, which runs on a Workday backend. Filter by studio (BioWare) or location (Edmonton, Austin) to find current openings.

  2. 2
    Expect a sparse req list compared to peer studios

    Expect a sparse req list compared to peer studios. Following both the BioWare Careers Twitter/X account and Gary McKay's posts is the fastest way to catch new postings, since visible hiring has been intermittent since the 2023 layoffs.

  3. 3
    Create an EA candidate profile in Workday

    Create an EA candidate profile in Workday. Reuse the same profile for any EA studio role (DICE, Respawn, Maxis, Motive, Codemasters, Ripple Effect) so your application history stays consolidated.

  4. 4
    Submit a resume tailored to a specific discipline (narrative design, combat desi

    Submit a resume tailored to a specific discipline (narrative design, combat design, gameplay engineer, technical artist, animator, etc.). BioWare hires specialists, not generalists, even for senior roles.

  5. 5
    For design and writing roles, attach a portfolio link or PDF with shipped credit

    For design and writing roles, attach a portfolio link or PDF with shipped credits, mod work, or published narrative samples. For engineering roles, include a public code repository or game project, even a small one.

  6. 6
    Initial screen with an EA recruiter (often based in Vancouver or remote Canada)

    Initial screen with an EA recruiter (often based in Vancouver or remote Canada) covers role fit, salary expectations, work authorization (Canadian PR or work permit for Edmonton roles, US authorization for Austin), and willingness to relocate.

  7. 7
    First technical or craft round with a hiring manager and one or two BioWare team

    First technical or craft round with a hiring manager and one or two BioWare team members. For design and narrative roles, expect a written exercise (a scene, a quest beat, a system pitch) on a deadline of three to seven days.

  8. 8
    On-site loop, typically virtual via Zoom or Microsoft Teams, with four to six in

    On-site loop, typically virtual via Zoom or Microsoft Teams, with four to six interviewers spanning craft, leadership, and a cross-discipline partner. Expect to discuss your favorite RPGs honestly, including weaknesses, not just praise BioWare's catalog.

  9. 9
    Reference checks through EA's HR partner

    Reference checks through EA's HR partner. EA verifies shipped credits and titles, so do not inflate scope on past projects.

  10. 10
    Offer comes from EA, not BioWare directly

    Offer comes from EA, not BioWare directly. Salary bands follow EA's global compensation framework with Canadian or US currency, EA stock (RSUs), benefits, and relocation support if applicable. Negotiate the relocation package separately from base salary.

Resume Tips for BioWare

recommended

Lead with shipped game titles, your specific role, and credit type (e

Lead with shipped game titles, your specific role, and credit type (e.g., 'Senior Combat Designer, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, full development cycle'). Unshipped or cancelled work counts but should be marked clearly.

recommended

Quantify scope: number of quests authored, lines of dialogue written, systems ow

Quantify scope: number of quests authored, lines of dialogue written, systems owned, team size you led, platforms shipped on. BioWare hiring managers parse credits carefully and notice vague claims.

recommended

For narrative and design roles, list specific RPGs you have studied or contribut

For narrative and design roles, list specific RPGs you have studied or contributed to. Modding credits for Skyrim, Baldur's Gate 3, Dragon Age, or Mass Effect carry real weight if the work is public and substantive.

recommended

For engineering roles, list engines you have shipped on (Frostbite is EA's prima

For engineering roles, list engines you have shipped on (Frostbite is EA's primary engine and BioWare's current toolchain, Unreal Engine experience is a plus, Unity is acceptable for indie credits). Frostbite expertise is rare and valued.

recommended

Include voice direction, motion capture, cinematic, or narrative tools experienc

Include voice direction, motion capture, cinematic, or narrative tools experience if relevant. BioWare's pipeline is heavy on cinematic dialogue scenes and the team values people who understand that workflow end-to-end.

recommended

Avoid corporate jargon and generic 'team player' language

Avoid corporate jargon and generic 'team player' language. BioWare interviewers respond to concrete craft language: 'I owned the boss encounter pacing for Act 2,' not 'collaborated cross-functionally on combat experiences.'

recommended

If you have shipped on a live-service game, say so clearly

If you have shipped on a live-service game, say so clearly. SWTOR experience, Anthem postmortem learnings, or any live-ops background is relevant given EA's portfolio direction, even though BioWare itself is moving back toward single-player.

recommended

Keep the resume to two pages maximum

Keep the resume to two pages maximum. Game industry hiring managers skim. A long resume signals padding, not depth.

recommended

Include a portfolio URL prominently in the header

Include a portfolio URL prominently in the header. For writers, link to a public sample (a short story, a quest design doc, a narrative breakdown post). For artists and animators, link to a reel under three minutes.

recommended

Do not hide gaps from the 2023 industry layoff wave

Do not hide gaps from the 2023 industry layoff wave. Many strong candidates were affected. Brief, honest framing ('Position eliminated in studio reduction, August 2023') is better than evasion.

ATS System: Workday (via EA careers.ea.com)

BioWare openings flow through Electronic Arts' global Workday instance hosted at careers.ea.com. There is no BioWare-specific applicant tracking system; all candidates create one EA profile that follows them across every EA studio. The Workday instance parses uploaded resumes into structured fields, so formatting matters. Recruiters search the candidate pool using Workday's keyword and skill filters before any human reads your application, which means the language on your resume must match the language in the job posting closely.

  • Upload a clean PDF or .docx resume. Workday's parser handles both reliably but struggles with multi-column layouts, text inside images, and exotic fonts. Use a single-column layout with standard fonts (Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Georgia).
  • Mirror the job posting's exact phrasing for engines, languages, and disciplines. If the req says 'Frostbite engine,' write 'Frostbite engine' on your resume, not just 'proprietary EA engine.'
  • Fill in every Workday profile field, especially the Work Experience section, even if it duplicates your resume. Recruiters often filter by structured fields, not the resume text.
  • Add all relevant skills to the Workday Skills section. The system uses these tags for matching. Include game engines, programming languages, design tools (Maya, Houdini, ZBrush, Substance), and relevant methodologies (Agile, Scrum, playtesting).
  • Set notification preferences to email for new BioWare or EA roles in your discipline. EA posts roles in batches and the candidate pool fills quickly for desirable positions.
  • Update your EA Workday profile every six months even if you are not actively applying. EA recruiters search the existing pool first before opening external requisitions.
  • If you previously applied to EA and were rejected, you can reapply to a different role after six months without it counting against you. The Workday system tracks application history but does not automatically disqualify reapplicants.

Interview Culture

BioWare interviews lean craft-first and conversational.

Expect interviewers to want a real discussion about RPGs, not a recital of BioWare's catalog. Honesty about which games you love and why, including criticism of BioWare's recent work, lands better than reverence. Interviewers know the studio's recent history and they are looking for people who understand the craft challenges, not fans who will be disappointed by the reality of shipping a modern AAA RPG. Design and narrative candidates should expect a take-home exercise: a quest beat, a companion scene, a system design doc, or a critique of an existing BioWare moment. Deadlines are typically three to seven days. The graders care more about your reasoning and revision instincts than perfect prose. Be ready to walk through your draft, explain what you cut, and what you would do with another week. Engineering interviews include a coding round (often C++, sometimes C# for tools), a systems design discussion, and a deep dive on past shipped work. Frostbite-specific knowledge is not expected for external candidates; transferable engine work is fine. Expect questions about memory budgets, performance on console hardware, and live-debugging of shipped issues. The on-site loop is now almost always virtual. Four to six interviewers across two to four hours, with at least one cross-discipline partner (a designer interviewing an engineer, an artist interviewing a writer). The 'culture fit' round is real but informal: lunch-style conversation about your career trajectory, what you want from a studio, and how you handle disagreement with a director. BioWare values people who will push back on creative decisions in service of the work, but who can disagree and commit once a call is made. Decisions typically come within two weeks of the final round. Offers are EA-branded and negotiated through EA's compensation team, not BioWare leadership directly.

What BioWare Looks For

  • Demonstrated craft in a specific discipline. Generalists struggle here; the studio hires for sharp specialization in narrative, combat, encounter, technical art, animation, or systems engineering.
  • Genuine passion for role-playing games as a genre, including non-BioWare RPGs. Strong candidates can articulate what Larian, Obsidian, FromSoftware, CD Projekt Red, and Owlcat each do well and where BioWare differs.
  • Shipped credits or substantive personal work. Mod credits for major RPGs count. Indie game credits count. Game jam work counts if it shows finished, polished output.
  • Comfort with cinematic dialogue pipelines. BioWare's identity is built around long, voiced, cinematically staged conversations, which is a specific production discipline most studios do not practice at this scale.
  • Resilience and clear-eyed realism about studio conditions. The 2023 layoffs are recent, the next Mass Effect is years away, and Veilguard's reception was mixed. Candidates who understand the situation interview better than those who do not.
  • Willingness to relocate to Edmonton or work hybrid from Edmonton. Fully remote roles are rare. The Alberta tax-credit anchor and the post-pandemic in-office push at EA mean physical presence matters for most positions.
  • Strong writing samples for any narrative or design role. The bar for prose, voice, and character work is high, even for systems designers who only occasionally write.
  • Engineering candidates who can read and modify large unfamiliar codebases. Frostbite is a complex engine and incoming engineers need to ramp on a mature codebase quickly.
  • Cross-discipline empathy. Designers who can talk to engineers about budgets, engineers who can talk to writers about beats, artists who understand technical constraints. Siloed specialists struggle in BioWare's small post-layoff team.
  • Long-term thinking. The next Mass Effect is a multi-year commitment. Candidates who treat the role as a stepping stone do not advance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is BioWare still hiring after the 2023 and 2024 layoffs?
Yes, but at a much lower volume than during the studio's 2010s peak. Hiring is concentrated on roles supporting the next Mass Effect (in early production) and Veilguard post-launch support. Most openings are senior or specialist roles; entry-level positions are rare. Watch careers.ea.com and the BioWare social accounts for new postings, which appear in batches rather than continuously.
Where is BioWare based and is remote work an option?
BioWare's primary studio is in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A reduced Austin, Texas office still exists but its scope shrank significantly when SWTOR live operations moved to Broadsword in May 2024. EA's general policy has shifted back toward in-office or hybrid work post-pandemic, so fully remote BioWare roles are rare. Most positions expect Edmonton presence with hybrid flexibility (typically three days a week in office).
What ATS does BioWare use?
BioWare uses Electronic Arts' Workday instance at careers.ea.com. There is no BioWare-specific applicant tracking system. Your EA Workday profile carries across all EA studios including DICE, Respawn, Maxis, Motive Studios, Codemasters, and Ripple Effect, so apply once and reuse the profile for any EA opportunity.
How important are shipped game credits for getting hired?
Very important for senior and lead roles. Mid-level roles often require at least one shipped title in a similar discipline. For junior roles, BioWare accepts substantive personal projects, modding credits for major RPGs (Skyrim, Baldur's Gate 3, Dragon Age, Mass Effect), polished game jam work, or indie shipped titles. The key is finished, public, playable work, not unshipped prototypes.
What game engine does BioWare use?
BioWare's primary engine is Frostbite, EA's proprietary engine, used on Anthem, Andromeda, Inquisition, and Veilguard. Frostbite expertise is rare in the industry and highly valued, but external candidates are not expected to know it. Strong general engine experience (Unreal Engine, Unity, custom C++ engines) transfers well. The next Mass Effect was previously reported as moving from Frostbite to Unreal Engine 5; BioWare has not officially confirmed engine choice for next-gen projects.
What was the impact of the August 2023 layoffs?
Approximately 50 staff were cut, roughly a quarter of the studio. The reductions hit narrative and design hardest, including longtime writer Mary DeMarle and other senior veterans. Mac Walters had already departed earlier in 2023. Further smaller reductions followed in 2024. The remaining team is more concentrated on the next Mass Effect and Veilguard support. Candidates should expect a smaller, more pressured studio than BioWare was at its 2010s peak.
How was Dragon Age: The Veilguard received?
Veilguard launched in October 2024 to mixed-positive critical reception (averaging in the high 70s to low 80s on review aggregators) and divided community response. Commercially, EA publicly flagged it as below expectations during earnings calls. The game shipped, BioWare proved it could complete a major RPG post-Anthem, but the commercial result intensified pressure on the studio. The next Mass Effect now carries even more weight as BioWare's path forward.
When will the next Mass Effect ship?
BioWare has not announced a release window. The project has been in some form of development since at least 2018 and entered fuller production in the past two years. Industry consensus places a realistic ship date in 2027 to 2028 at earliest. Joining BioWare to work on the next Mass Effect is a multi-year commitment, not a short-term project.
Is Edmonton a viable city to relocate to?
Honestly, it depends. Edmonton has a lower cost of living than Vancouver or Toronto, decent public services, and a small but real tech and arts scene. The climate is severe (long, cold winters with sub-zero temperatures common from November through March). The tech ecosystem is smaller than Canada's coastal hubs, which limits external job options if the BioWare role does not work out. Alberta provides meaningful game-industry tax credits, which is part of why BioWare remains anchored there. Visit before accepting an offer.
What is the salary range for BioWare roles?
EA does not publish bands publicly. Based on public comp surveys (Game Developer salary survey, Levels.fyi), Edmonton-based mid-level designers and engineers typically range CAD 90,000 to 130,000 base, senior roles CAD 130,000 to 180,000, and leads CAD 180,000+. US Austin-based roles run higher in USD. Compensation includes EA stock (RSUs), bonus eligibility, benefits, and relocation support. Negotiate relocation separately from base.
Is there a union at BioWare?
No. BioWare is not unionized. The broader video game industry has seen organizing momentum (CWA-affiliated unions at ZeniMax, Activision Blizzard QA, Sega of America, Bethesda Game Studios Austin), but no organizing campaign has been publicly reported at BioWare specifically. Some former BioWare staff have spoken publicly about industry working conditions post-layoff, but the studio itself remains non-union.
How does BioWare compare to peer RPG studios as an employer?
Peer studios include Larian (Belgium, privately held, BG3 success), Obsidian (Microsoft-owned, Avowed shipped 2025), CD Projekt Red (Poland, Witcher and Cyberpunk), FromSoftware (Japan, Elden Ring), Bethesda Game Studios (Microsoft-owned, Starfield), and Owlcat (Cyprus, Pathfinder and Rogue Trader). BioWare offers EA's resources and benefits but with the constraints of a publicly traded parent under cost discipline. Larian and FromSoftware currently have stronger creative momentum. Microsoft-owned studios offer different stability tradeoffs (deeper pockets, but Microsoft has also closed studios). Choose based on craft fit and risk tolerance, not just brand legacy.

Open Positions

BioWare currently has 2 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 2 open positions at BioWare

Related Resources

Related Articles

Sources

  1. EA Careers - BioWare Studio Page —
  2. BioWare Official Studio Site —
  3. BioWare 2023 Layoffs Coverage - Game Developer —
  4. Star Wars: The Old Republic Transition to Broadsword Online Games —
  5. Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reviews Aggregator - Metacritic —
  6. EA Q3 FY25 Earnings Call - Veilguard Performance Commentary —
  7. Electronic Arts Acquisition of BioWare and Pandemic - 2007 Press Release —
  8. Game Developer Salary Survey 2024 —
  9. Alberta Made Digital Media Tax Credit —
  10. BioWare General Manager Gary McKay Studio Update Blog —
  11. Larian Studios Baldur's Gate 3 Game of the Year 2023 - The Game Awards —
  12. Workday Candidate Experience Documentation —