Mass Effect: Andromeda developer BioWare Montreal is closing its doors, so to speak. Publisher Electronic Arts has revealed that the studio will be merging with EA's other Montreal developer Motive Studios, with the combined team working on Motive's upcoming Star Wars project.

“We’re building out a new studio in Montreal, as we’ve told everyone," EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said during today's quarterly earnings call. "And we’ve hired over 100 people into that studio that are brand-new to EA. This is to build the new IP around Jade Raymond’s team that she’s been building. I was in that studio last month. And it’s a wonderful new addition to our team. And we brought our BioWare Montreal team into that same facility. So they now all sit in one new studio together.” 

The move is not really unexpected, given that EA had scaled back BioWare Montreal to support studio status in May after the dismal launch of Andromeda. The move bolster's Jade Raymond's Motive team, which is currently working on Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and a new as-yet-unannounced IP.

“The teams in EA Worldwide Studios are packed with talent, and more than ever, we’re driving collaboration between studios on key projects. With multiple major projects in development in Montreal, we are merging BioWare Montreal with Motive Studios," an EA spokesman said in a statement (via TechRaptor), clarifying Jorgensen's remarks. "This is an ongoing process, but there are many exciting roles and opportunities for everyone on the team.”

BioWare still has its main studio in Edmonton, which is working on Anthem and possibly a new Dragon Age, and the BioWare Austin studio, which is working on Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. Casey Hudson recently returned to head up BioWare as its general manager with the departure of studio head Aaryn Flynn.

The merger of the two studios leaves the Mass Effect series up in the air. A new multiplayer patch for Andromeda was just released, but any hope of single-player DLC now appears to be a pipe dream.