Former Dragon Age testers to picket BioWare today, on Mass Effect's N7 Day
"Any activities targeting our offices are misguided," EA responds.
A group of former BioWare testers plan to protest outside the company's Edmonton headquarters today, after being laid off from contract studio Keywords last month.
The group has chosen today - 7th November - as it is BioWare's N7 Day, an annual celebration of the developer's Mass Effect franchise.
13 former testers were employed by Keywords Studios but seconded to BioWare to work on 2021's brilliant Mass Effect Legendary Edition trilogy remaster. This group then worked on the upcoming Dragon Age Dreadwolf - before a dispute erupted over their continuing ability to work remotely.
The group have demanded Keywords rehire them, Game Developer reports, and claim their exit from the studio was part of a "union busting tactic". Keywords stated the layoffs last month were due to "the end of a fixed term client contract".
BioWare owner EA has commented on the planned protest to say it was "misguided" - as the workers were not employed directly by BioWare itself.
"We hope that Keywords and the union are able to resolve their differences but ultimately Bioware has no role in that process," an EA spokesperson told Kotaku.
"It is our view that any activities targeting our offices are misguided as Bioware is not involved in any way in the negotiations and Epcor Tower has never been a place of employment for Keywords employees."
A separate group of former Dragon Age and Mass Effect staff who worked at BioWare full-time and who were let go in August are also marking N7 Day.
Last month, seven of this group of former workers demanded further compensation from BioWare due to their long tenures at the company. This disagreement is now set to go to court, rather than be settled.
In a fresh statement, this group said it was "disappointed that BioWare prefers stalling and intimidation tactics" by not settling sooner.
"We strongly believe that if Dragon Age: Dreadwolf does not do as well as BioWare or EA wants at launch, there will be more, even larger layoffs," the group stated.
"Therefore, regardless of our own well-being, we believe it is important to hold BioWare responsible and get a clear decision on what settlement amount is legal. We're no longer part of the development team, so the best way we can can help our former teammates now is to hold BioWare accountable and ensure that the next group who is laid off are not treated as poorly as we were."
A press release issued by lawyers for the group noted today's N7 Day date.
"The developers involved in the lawsuit are hoping N7 Day this year will be a reminder to BioWare of the importance of loyalty to your crew, and hope fans can have a little fun and help express their support with memes and images using an #N7SeveranceDay hashtag."
Full production on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and early work on the next Mass Effect game continue.