One of Mass Effect’s most influential writers leaves BioWare after almost 20 years

One of the top creative minds behind the Mass Effect series is leaving BioWare, they announced recently.

The lead writer on Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, Mac Walters, left the company at the end of 2022 to embark on a “personal goal pursuit” and “career break,” as originally reported by IGN.

“With a new year comes new adventures,” Walters said in a post on LinkedIn. “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. I’ve worked with so many wonderful people and had the privilege to be a part of the most amazing teams and projects. It’s hard to fathom it all, and I know I’ll be reflecting on it for years to come.”

Before taking over as lead writer in the last two games of the original trilogy, Walters was also a senior writer on the original game. Walters was also a narrative director on Anthem, a creative director on Mass Effect Andromeda, and a production director on Dragon Age as of 2022, so their impact on BioWare has been quite large throughout the years.

Walters left his mark on the Mass Effect expanded lore universe as well, writing several of the game’s comics over the years. He began at BioWare in 2003 as a writer on Jade Empire.

There’s been quite a large change-over of personnel at BioWare since the glory days of the Mass Effect series, with several of the members of the original team moving on to new endeavors.

“Thank you to everyone I’ve had the joy of working with, and I wish everyone at BioWare the very best in everything you do,” he said. “It’s truly been a pleasure.”

A new entry in the sci-fi RPG franchise is now currently in development at BioWare.