BioWare veteran Mac Walters has departed the developer following 19 years of service. Walters is best known for his work on the Mass Effect series, and in particular, he was credited as the lead writer on both Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. Much more recently, he was the project director on the excellent Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and had been production director for the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
"As some of you already know, at the end of last year I decided to leave BioWare. These past 19 years have been a life-changing experience to say the least, and it made the choice to go very difficult," writes Walters. He's now taking a break before deciding what to do next.
As you'd expect from a near two-decade tenure, it wasn't always smooth sailing for Walters during his time at BioWare. He oversaw the divisive Mass Effect: Andromeda as the game's creative director, and was, for a time, narrative director on ANTHEM.
But it's fair to say that without Walters, Mass Effect wouldn't be the same beloved franchise that it is today. With his departure now confirmed, it'll be interesting to see how the currently in-the-works Mass Effect sequel pans out. After all, BioWare is looking like a very different company these days.
Naturally, we wish Mac all the best in his future endeavours.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 20
The PS3/X360 era for BioWare had some seriously legendary titles. This is yet another reminder they are not the same company now.
Here’s hoping they show us something special with the new Dragon Age
This is massive news regarding the new PS5 Mass Effect they had planned. I just hope they can make it a smash hit without him
The PS360 era was Bioware at its peak.
I appreciate his contributions at Bioware. The Mass Effect games really are something special. Yes even Andromeda. I wish him well in his future endeavors.
not good walters leaving doesnt bode well for the new dragon age
He did an excellent got with the legendary edition a top quality remaster and while andromedas not a good mass effect game it is quite and achievement to make that game in 18 months
@Netret0120 I think of PS360 era as the swansong of Bioware mostly. "Peak" was probably their days with Interplay. MDK2, Baldur's Gate, the Infinity Engine that both Bioware and Black Isle used for epic D&D games. They had kind of a second peak with the MS era with Mass Effect 1, Knights of the Old Republic, and Jade Empire. The PS360 era was kind of the downward post-EA slide. ME2, DA:O were great, ME3 slipped a little, DA2 was....a big slip...
They were the victim of bad money. First the Interplay hostile takeover that saw them not getting royalties from BG2:SoA, that led them to MS who they did well with and MS should have bought them, but didn't, ending in the EA buyout which....has gone were EA buyouts go.
Couldn't wait one more. Alright then.
Bioware output is extremely bad these days. Everything goes through development hell. I am inclined to believe it's EA ruining everything as usual.
Its crazy how two bad projects completely changed how BioWare is viewed by most people
He was only lead writer because Drew Karpyshyn was moved to SW:TOR during ME2 development. Drew is the real influence behind Mass Effect's story/lore. BioWare lost a lot of the OG staff a long time ago and you can see the difference.
Maybe got poached by Microsoft to work on halo...
Mass Effect 3, how to build up the suspense, make bold good/evil decisions, then completely screw up the ending with no good choices, no direction, and nothing you’ve accomplished to that point mattering. Great game series, but the ending was just a joke.
@Loamy
1.The Mass Effect Trilogy is my favorite gaming experience from the PS3 era-and I also count it as one game! I will die on this hill!
Witcher 3 is also my top game of the PS4 era. I like your taste in games my friend.
2.I think it needs to be said more that Mass Effect Andromeda really has some good action in it. Best fighting in the series. It even has some decent quests thrown in there. Those quests are just buried under a mountain of meaningless fetch quests that populate every area of the game for reasons I will never understand.
Mass effect 1 2 and 3 one of the greatest trilogies of xbox360 and ps3! gears of war and fear up there to.
Mass Effect 2 and three and the entire Dragon Age series are fantastic. Unfortunately, Bioware has been in hibernation for a long time now, in large part forced by their EA overlords per many reports. Hopefully they can come out of it and Dreadwolf and the next ME game will be as good or better than the old ones.
Its been a really bleak time for party based RPGs all around, sadly. They're my main genre, so all I can do is hold out hope.
I knew things like this were going to start happening once they didn't announce a prequel for the first contact wars, which could've been so juicy and foreshadowing.. Such a missed opportunity, and also, when they decided to remaster the trilogy, not remake it.
If TLOU deserved a remake, then ME 1-3 certainly did.. The things they could've done.. Things like promises not kept, certain dialogues and characters begging to be further explored and explained.
Would've been nice to get an extra dlc playing as Anderson on Earth while Shepard was away, think of the incredible story that could've been told?
Removed - inappropriate
Another beloved franchise I still need to get around to playing. Despite owning it on both PS3 and PS4 now.
The guy who was the lead writer on mass effect 3... I have nothing nice to say so I will not say anything.
I just finished the trilogy today for the first time, it was okay, I didn't think much of the choices at the end of 3 but overall it was plenty of fun. I've only played one dragon age game but already definitely prefer that series from Bioware.
I remember a time when BioWare didn't miss the mark.
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