‘Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’ Production Director Mac Walters Leaves BioWare After 19 Years, Previously Claimed He Went To Bed Dreaming Up New Places To Explore
Another industry veteran has left BioWare. Mac Walters, who was the Production Director on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf left the company after 19 years.
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“With a new year comes new adventures,” Walters wrote on his 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.”
Walters got his start at BioWare as a writer on the hit Xbox RPG Jade Empire in 2005 before moving on to work on the award-winning Mass Effect franchise. He started work on Mass Effect in a senior position before transitioning to the lead writer on both Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.
Until his departure, Walters had been working as the Production Director on the upcoming Dragon Age Dreadwolf which had just received a new trailer in December of last year. He also had overseen the direction of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition release earlier in 2022.
Long time fans of Mass Effect will recognize Walters also for his work on the comics which expand upon the lore of the Mass Effect universe.
Walters is no doubt a massive talent and his departure alongside other veterans such as Mark Darrah and Casey Huson leaves BioWare in a weaker position.
Related: BioWare Loses GM Casey Hudson And Dragon Age Producer Mark Darrah
As of right now, it is unclear how Walters’ departure will affect the production of Dragon Age Dreadwolf which is the first game to be released in the Dragon Age series since the 2014 release of Dragon Age Inquisition.
Walters was recently highlighted in a Developer Story by BioWare in May of last year. In that Developer Story, Walters detailed what he hoped for the upcoming Dragon Age game, “it’s exploring a deeply magical world, alongside incredible characters who really make that journey, that exploration, impactful and meaningful. And it’s the diversity of characters, the ability for players to really see themselves in that heroic role.”
“Dragon Age really lets you lean into that. It allows anyone to play the role that they want to play, in a way that they can see themselves as the hero of the story, whatever that means to them. I think that’s one of the great things about BioWare games in general, and specifically the Dragon Age franchise,” he added.
Interestingly, during that Developer Story, Walters also indicated he was nowhere near to losing his passion for working at BioWare, “I assume if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably a fan of at least one of the franchises.”
He continued, “So imagine going to work with a bunch of people like yourself who are fans of the same types of games, who are passionate about making them—and then getting the opportunity to build more of those games. I think that’s what BioWare is; we started as fans of the games that we’re building.”
“One of the questions we often ask ourselves is, would we want to play this?”, he emphasized. “Is this exciting to us? That’s what leads us to develop the games and franchises and worlds that we do. And I think that’s one of the things that makes it so much fun to work here. It is work—but it’s also getting to do something that you’re deeply passionate about.”
“The franchises, the worlds themselves—they’re so big,” Walters relayed. “Like I said, I go to bed every night thinking about new stories to tell and new places to explore in those worlds. There are so many stories yet to be told.”
Currently, BioWare is working on new entries in both the Dragon Age and Mass Effect universe. The departure of seasoned talent notwithstanding, the company hopes to have a bright future with two new entries that can appeal to longtime fans.
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