In case you missed the devastating news this week, Electronic Arts killed BioWare and laid off 400 jobs following its sale to Saudi Arabia. This also led to the cancellation of the next Mass Effect game, which was being worked on by a small team within the studio. However, EA continues to prove that it can’t read a room because it’s reportedly still moving forward with Amazon’s live-action Mass Effect TV show. Reported by IGN, Amazon MGM Studios plans to still move forward with the Mass Effect TV show and all original creatives are still on board the project. Very little is known about the series yet, though it will take place after the Commander Shepard trilogy. Many speculate it will tell an original story with new characters in the same universe, and before the next Mass Effect was taken around the back and executed by EA, fans also believed it would act as a bridge between the original trilogy and the now-dead game. The TV series is still rolling ahead and the response to it has been rightfully jaded by the community, who feel that it’s a tone-deaf move given the circumstances. All we can say is the upcoming N7 day, an annual day for fans to celebrate the Mass Effect franchise on 7 November, will now be a mournful one. The future of the Mass Effect gaming franchise is up in the air. While it’s possible that EA and its Saudi overlords could sell off the IP, the fact that EA is still clinging onto it for the Amazon show just doesn’t sit right. At this rate, EA will likely shelve Mass Effect, along with Dragon Age and KOTOR, for the foreseeable future – just like it has to numerous beloved franchises like Need for Speed and Burnout over the years. Source: IGN Original article on GLITCHED

One of gaming’s most influential RPG studios is closing its doors. Electronic Arts is shutting down BioWare and cancelling the next Mass Effect game, bringing a devastating end to more than three decades of development history behind some of the industry’s most beloved role-playing games. BioWare confirmed the news on 21 October 2026, announcing that the studio is closing and development on the next Mass Effect project is ending. The decision comes as part of a wider restructuring at EA, which is reportedly cutting around 400 jobs across the company, including approximately 50 positions at BioWare. In a statement, BioWare reflected on the games that defined its legacy, including Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age and Mass Effect. “For more than 30 years, BioWare has been more than a studio,” the company said. “It has been a home for storytellers, developers, and the players who brought our worlds to life.” The studio added that its immediate focus was on supporting its team through the transition, thanking the players who had made its games part of their lives. The biggest blow for fans is the cancellation of the next Mass Effect, which had been in development since its announcement in December 2020. Little has been shown of the project beyond brief teasers, including a mysterious trailer released during The Game Awards. BioWare had previously reassured fans that the game was still in development, with veteran developers from the original trilogy involved in its creation. In November 2025, executive producer Mike Gamble specifically addressed concerns about the project’s future, insisting that EA and BioWare remained committed to telling more stories in the Mass Effect universe. According to reporting by Bloomberg, the game was still in early development when EA decided not to proceed. This means fans will never see the version of Mass Effect that the team had been building, unless the project is revived in some form in the future. No such revival has been announced. The cancellation also leaves the future of the video game franchise uncertain. EA retains the Mass Effect intellectual property, but there is currently no confirmed replacement project or development team. Founded in 1995 by Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, BioWare built its reputation on story-driven RPGs that gave players meaningful choices, memorable companions and expansive fictional worlds. The original Baldur’s Gate helped establish the studio as a major name in PC role-playing games. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic followed, before BioWare created two of its most recognisable original franchises: Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Electronic Arts acquired the studio in 2007, bringing its development teams into a much larger publisher. BioWare continued releasing major RPGs, but its later years proved considerably more difficult. The multiplayer-focused Anthem failed to establish the lasting audience EA had hoped for, and the planned overhaul of the game was ultimately cancelled. Mass Effect: Andromeda received a mixed response in 2017, while Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched in 2024 to generally positive reviews but failed to meet EA’s commercial expectations. BioWare had already undergone significant restructuring in January 2025, when it reduced its workforce and transferred some employees to other EA teams. At the time, the company said a smaller group of experienced developers would focus on the next Mass Effect. That smaller team has now lost its project, with EA deciding to close the Edmonton studio where BioWare was based. The closure does not mean EA is shutting down every franchise BioWare helped create. The company still owns the rights to Mass Effect and Dragon Age, although there are no confirmed plans for another game in either series following this announcement. BioWare’s closure is part of a broader shift in EA’s development strategy. The publisher is reportedly cutting around 400 jobs, representing approximately 3% of its workforce. Alongside the BioWare closure, EA has cancelled a planned Sims project codenamed Project Lotus and is reducing the size of the team behind Skate. EA says it intends to focus its resources on projects with greater opportunities for long-term growth. Its plans include continued investment in sports games, Apex Legends, Battlefield, the next Star Wars Jedi game and the upcoming Marvel’s Iron Man project. The timing is also notable. EA completed a reported $55 billion acquisition by a consortium involving Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners in August 2026, two months before the BioWare closure was announced. The transaction was structured as a leveraged buyout, placing additional financial obligations on the company. While EA has not directly attributed BioWare’s closure to the acquisition, the decision arrives amid an intense focus on costs and investment priorities. Around 50 BioWare employees are reportedly among those affected by the wider cuts, although the exact arrangements for individual staff have not been publicly detailed. Original article on GLITCHED Written by Marco Cocomello

As humans, it is only natural for us to enjoy playing games. From childhood, and even into adulthood, play is an essential part of our lives. And I’m sure we’ve all at some point wondered about what it would be like to experience a death game of sorts, especially since the success of The Hunger Games and Squid Game. Luckily, anime doesn’t have many issues when it comes to exploring topics that most people would shy away from, and death games are one such topic. So, here are 10 death game anime, arranged in alphabetical order, to get your heart pumping this spooky season: Angels of Death Studio: J.C.Staff While not a traditional death game in the sense of having multiple people compete for their lives against one another, Angels of Death is its own kind of death game for one person. The series follows Rachel, a young girl with amnesia, as she makes her way through a series of different levels, each with its own psychotic “boss” that she needs to find her way past. Helping her is Jack, the first boss she encounters, and to whom she promises her death if he helps her make it through the various levels to escape. Angels of Death is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Watch time: 16 episodes of 24 minutes each – just under 6 and a half hours. Danganronpa Studio: Lerche (subsidiary of Studio Hibari) Danganronpa is probably every high school student’s worst nightmare come to life – a death game where you have to murder your fellow classmates, but be found innocent in the subsequent trial. Based on the visual novel game of the same name, the series takes place in the elite Hope’s Peak High School and follows protagonist student Makoto Naegi. Makoto and his classmates are threatened by an anthropomorphic bear who tells them that the only way to leave the Academy is to literally get away with murder. Danganronpa is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Watch time: 13 episodes of 25 minutes each (season 1) and 24 episodes of 24 minutes each (seasons 2 & 3) – just over 15 hours. Darwin’s Game Studio: Nexus High school student Kaname Sudo receives an (accidental) invitation from a friend to download an app called ‘Darwin’s Game’, and when he launches it, he’s drawn into a game where players fight each other, generally to the death, using ‘Sigils’, a kind of superpower bestowed on the players once they join the game. With no way to quit the game, except through death, Kaname must defend himself against more advanced players and try to survive through their attacks. Darwin’s Game is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Watch time: 1 episode of 48 minutes and 10 episodes of 24 minutes each – 4 hours and 48 minutes. Deadman Wonderland Studio: Manglobe After being convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, Ganta Igarashi is locked up and sentenced to death in famous prison turned theme park, Deadman Wonderland. In order to survive, Ganta must participate in deadly games and entertain the tourists so that he can live to fight another day, while also battling a lethal poison that is injected into his bloodstream every three days, and can only be neutralised by obtaining a special candy, mainly through participating in these death games. Deadman Wonderland is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Watch time: 12 episodes of 25 minutes each plus 1 OVA (The Red Knife Wielder) of 30 minutes – 5 and a half hours. The Future Diary Studio: Asread Shy Yukiteru Amano is a loner who enjoys observing people and jotting his observations down on his phone. When his friend, Deus Ex Machina (God of Space and Time), turns his phone into a Future Diary, capable of telling the future up to 90 days in advance, Yukiteru finds that he and eleven other individuals are now part of a battle royale executed by Deus. The objective is to eliminate the other players using their Future Diaries, and the reward is taking Deus’s place and becoming the God of Space and Time. The Future Diary is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Watch time: 15 episodes of 24 minutes each, 2 episodes of 25 minutes each, and 9 episodes of 26 minutes each – just under 11 hours. High-Rise Invasion Studio: Zero-G After suddenly finding herself on top of a high-rise building in a surreal world consisting only of high-rise buildings, high school student Yuri Honjo must find a way out through these interconnected buildings, with no way to reach the ground, and to her brother, who is trapped in the same strange world. All the while, she is being hunted by humans in strange masks, and must escape from them while surviving the extreme heights of the buildings. High-Rise Invasion is available to stream on Netflix South Africa. The Ones Within Studio: Silver Link A popular live-streamer for the game The Ones Within -Genome, Akatsuki Iride finds himself, along with seven other players, transported into a game world similar to that of The Ones Within -Genome, where their every move is livestreamed, and death and injury are very possible. Their only way to escape is to reach 100 million viewers while clearing game stages to obtain a token of completion known as the “chromosome”. The Ones Within is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Watch time: 12 episodes of 24 minutes each – just under 5 hours. Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table Studio: Studio DEEN Veteran death game player Yuki participates in death games as a career in order to win lucrative cash prizes. These death games are created and televised for entertainment, and to keep the death games sustainable (and keep contestants coming back), only about a third of players tend to die. Yuki, with all her experience, knows that survival is based on calm calculations and not luck, and that failure in these games is final. Shiboyugi: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Netflix. Watch time: 11 episodes of 24 minutes and 1 episode of 89 minutes – just under 6 hours. Talentless Nana Studio: Studio Bridge In a futuristic world, extraterrestrial life has appeared and has been named “Enemies of Humanity”. Around the same time as the appearance of these monsters, children with supernatural powers also appeared, and they were called the “Talented”. Seeing a way to combat the monsters using these children, they are sent to train on a deserted island in order to prepare for battle against the monsters. One of these students is Nana Hiiragi, a Talentless individual who makes friends with the class. Soon, the students start dying off one by one, and distrust takes root in the students, for who could be killing off the saviours of humanity? Talentless Nana is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Watch time: 13 episodes of 24 minutes – just over 5 hours. Tomodachi Game Studio: Okuruto Noboru After raising enough money to join his friends and classmates on a school trip, Yuichi and his classmates’ money is stolen! What’s worse, the group finds themselves abducted and forced to participate in the Tomodachi Game, a debt repayment game where if they lose, they’ll find themselves millions of yen in debt. The group will have to choose which means more to them in order to survive – money, or friendship. Tomodachi Game is available to stream on Crunchyroll. Watch time: 12 episodes of 23 minutes each – just over 4 and a half hours. Below is a list of honourable mentions that didn't make the list and/or aren't available for streaming right now in South Africa. Sword Art Online Gantz Death Parade Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor Btooom! Juuni Taisen (Zodiac War) Written by Samantha Crerar

KPop Demon Hunters 2 is officially heading to cinemas, with Netflix seemingly ready to give its highly anticipated animated sequel a much bigger theatrical release following the unprecedented success of the original movie. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed in September that the sequel would receive a “very broad theatrical release” when it eventually arrives. This marks a notable move for the streaming giant, which has traditionally prioritised releasing its movies directly on Netflix rather than giving them an extensive run in cinemas. The decision shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering just how successful the first movie has been. Released in June 2025, KPop Demon Hunters became Netflix’s most-watched movie of all time, attracting hundreds of millions of views and turning its fictional K-pop group HUNTR/X into a global phenomenon. The film’s success also extended beyond streaming, with its soundtrack becoming a major hit and its songs finding an audience well beyond the movie itself. Netflix subsequently brought the film to cinemas for a limited time, including a sing-along event that reportedly generated around $18 million at the US box office in just two days. With that in mind, giving the sequel a wider theatrical release seems like a logical next step for Netflix, particularly as the company continues to explore opportunities to bring its biggest productions to cinemas. The sequel is currently expected to arrive in 2029 (confirming previous reports), with directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans returning to continue the story. While plot details remain under wraps, the filmmakers have expressed their excitement about exploring more of the world they created in the original movie. Netflix has yet to reveal a specific release date or detailed plans for the sequel’s theatrical rollout. However, the announcement suggests that fans could have the opportunity to experience HUNTR/X’s next adventure on the big screen before it eventually makes its way to the streaming service. Source: The Hollywood Reporter Original article on GLITCHED