Electronic Arts confirms the departure of two key figures from the studio, which has just released Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem without the expected success.
Electronic Arts has announced that Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah, CEO of BioWare and executive producer of the Dragon Age series, respectively, have left the studio. Laura Miele, director of the development teams owned by EA, has been in charge of breaking the news through a statement that makes public the discharge of two key veteran figures of the Canadian study, which comes from chaining two commercial setbacks since Mass Effect: Andromeda ( 2017) and Anthem (2019) after the success of Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014), awarded as GOTY.
Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah, 20 Years of BioWare History
Casey Hudson has been with the company for almost twenty years; In his resume we find positions of responsibility in the famous original trilogy of Mass Effect, although this is not his first departure from BioWare. It was in 2015, after his signing by Microsoft Studios (now Xbox Game Studios) when he experienced a two-year stint at the Redmond giant; But in 2017 he returned to BioWare to recover the sap of those releases that have given Electronic Arts so many joys since 2007, the year in which the publisher took over the shareholding of the studio.
“It is a good time to make changes; both for me and for BioWare ”, he uses in his farewell message. No details about that future have emerged. However, his position will be filled by Gary McKay, who will assume – on an interim basis – the position of Senior Director, Operations and Development.
Mark Darrah, for his part, is the one who leaves a long history in BioWare. He first entered the offices as a clerk twenty-three years ago. From that trajectory there are works such as deliveries in Baldur’s Gate, Jade Empire or Neverwinter Knights; He has also worked on Dragon Age during the numbered installments. His position will be relieved by Christian Dailey, who until now held the role of director in BioWare’s Austin division. According to Darrah, the Dragon Age saga “is in good hands.”
The future of BioWare now lies in the release of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition in spring 2021; the reinvention of Anthem (Anthem 2.0), a new Mass Effect and a new Dragon Age.
