In a development that has sent ripples through the gaming industry, Corinne Busche, game director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, has left BioWare.
🚨LEAK: Corinne Busche, Game Director of Dragon Age Veilguard, has left Bioware and EA.
Bioware Edmonton, the Veilguard studio, to be SHUTTERED. @bioware @dragonage
The farewell email was shared with me and I verified her leaving with @SmashJT ‘s contacts at EA/Bioware.
The… pic.twitter.com/jp4w3ORoMP
— Grummz (@Grummz) January 17, 2025
This news, revealed by Mark Kern (aka Grummz) and YouTuber SmashJT, comes amid troubling rumors that BioWare’s flagship Edmonton studio may close as early as next month. The potential closure of this three-story office, which opened just five years ago, signals a grim future for the once-revered RPG studio.
Grummz and SmashJT shared details from an internal email later verified by a source within EA where Busche announced leaving BioWare to pursue new projects. Busche frames this departure as voluntary, but it’s certainly possible that the studio stepped in and forced this. Following the underwhelming performance of The Veilguard, which fell far short of sales expectations by a reported 85% and received harsh criticism, this leadership change is viewed by some as a move to stabilize the faltering studio.
An email from Corinne Busche to the employees of BioWare – YouTube, SmashJT
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“Hard to believe I’m writing these words, but here it goes,” Busche said in the email. “It’s time for me to say goodbye. Today is my last day at BioWare and EA. After so much contemplation, I’ve decided to pursue a new challenge and a new project, doing what I love most—making RPGs. It wasn’t an easy decision, as I mean it when I say I love BioWare, the Dragon Age team, and what we’ve all accomplished together. My time with all of you has been the highlight of my career. I want to offer my personal thanks to each of you. For your trust, your companionship, and for the many ways in which you’ve inspired me and helped me grow. I’ll be eagerly waiting to see what great experiences you create next, and as a fan, I’ll be rooting for you!
“If I can leave you with any advice, it is this: We all know making games is hard. It’s part of why we do it. But making games is also about the people and the reliance we have on one another. So take the time to celebrate the wins and lift each other up. The challenge and the work will always be there, but the moments we have with each other are precious and few. Let’s stay in touch!”
But that’s not the only major BioWare news.
An email from SmashJT’s source within EA about the fate of BioWare – YouTube, SmashJT
According to SmashJT’s EA source, BioWare Edmonton’s closure is rumored to be announced before EA’s February 2025 Town Hall meeting. The timing coincides with reports of disappointing financial performance and project delays, including the much-anticipated Mass Effect sequel.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been a focal point of BioWare’s struggles, selling under 1.5 million copies against a projected 10 million after a 10 year development period, according to SmashJT’s internal source. Its dwindling player base—down 90% within two months—reflects widespread dissatisfaction. Critics have pointed to a combination of creative missteps and an increasing focus on corporate DEI initiatives over core gameplay values as reasons for the studio’s decline.
Dragon Age Director Corinne Busche – YouTube, Smash JT
This isn’t the first high-profile departure from BioWare in recent months. Sylvia Feketekuty, a senior writer with 15 years at the company, also left following The Veilguard’s launch. These exits compound the uncertainty surrounding BioWare’s future, leaving the fate of series like Mass Effect and Dragon Age up in the air.
BioWare was once a studio that celebrated creativity and pushing the envelope. But under Busche’s leadership, Dragon Age went from a dark fantasy epic to a sloppily written cartoonish gender politics lesson, complete with mandatory pronoun selection and even the opportunity to add top surgery scars to the player character.
A screenshot from Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024), BioWare
These politically charged initiatives have been proven to repel players. Recently, Lords of The Fallen developer CI Games issued a poll that asked gamers if they’d prefer traditional male and female gender selection options in a medieval fantasy game over the gender neutral Body Type A/B previously included in their 2023 release.
With nearly 50 thousand votes, the audience voted overwhelmingly to reject gender politics and keep traditional male/female options.
A poll from Marek Tyminski of CI Games on Gender selection in medieval RPGs – X, @tyminski_marek
CI Games then vowed to not only stick to male and female going forward, but also to go back and update Lords of The Fallen to reflect the player choice.
It will be interesting to see if other studios take note of this vital demographic assessment. BioWare in particular has the next Mass Effect coming down the pipeline. If the studio fails to learn from the mistakes of Veilguard and fills Mass Effect with gender politics and DEI, then we might have seen the once-legendary RPG-maker’s final chapter.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Game Director’s X bio
Of course, Busche took no personal responsibility for the massive failure in public. Instead, the deeply unpopular director pointed toward a supposed hate campaign to explain away the dismal sales and skyrocketing return rate for Veilguard.
As SmashJT put it, “Make no mistake – This the beginning of the end for one of gaming’s most storied studios. All thanks to Diversity, Equity…. and Inclusion.”
Whether that prophecy holds true remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: BioWare’s future hangs in the balance.
Do you think Corinne Busche left BioWare, or did the battered studio fire the failed director? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
