All unionized QA employees at Keywords Studios have been laid off following Dragon Age developer BioWare‘s decision not to renew their contract.
BioWare, which is currently developing Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, recently cut 50 workers from the company. Per Polygon, Keywords Studios was in negotiations with BioWare when the news broke. All 13 unionized employees lost their jobs as of September 27 because of the contract’s expiration. The QA workers had been employed by BioWare Edmonton.
Canada’s first game industry union fired
In June 2022, the 13 QA workers won their vote to join United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Union, Local No. 401, becoming the first game industry union in the country. According to a UFCW representative, Keyword Studios let go all the QA testers supporting BioWare in late September. Liz Corless, the global head of marketing at Keywords Studios, confirmed the firings in an email. “We can confirm that regrettably the 13 Edmonton-based staff have now left the business following the end of a fixed term client contract,” Corless wrote.
James Russwurm, a member of the Keywords union, noted that the company had “taken the position there is no more work available.” Keyword Studios currently has multiple QA job listings on its website. Russwurn revealed that the union had filed an employment standards complaint against Keyword Studios, pointing to a “minimal severance” offered by the company but not paid out. BioWare is facing a similar complaint as its fired employees filed a lawsuit for “adequate severance.”
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf suffered a disappointing update in late August, with industry insider Jeff Grubb claiming it wouldn’t release until 2024 or 2025. BioWare announced the Dragon Age sequel in 2018, then remained largely silent until it revealed the name in 2022. It’s unclear how the layoffs might impact Dreadwolf’s release.
