Former Mass Effect lead writer Mac Walters has revealed why he departed from BioWare despite his nearly 20-year tenure. Read on to learn more about the situation and what the future holds for Mac Walters.
Mac Walters Discusses Reason for BioWare Exit
The gaming world was shaken earlier this year when long-time BioWare veteran and famed Mass Effect lead writer Mac Walters announced his exit. With nearly 20 years of industry experience under his belt, his departure came as a surprise to all, with many unsure as to why he left exactly.
Walters recently revealed the reasons for his departure in an interview with MinnMax, citing his desire to work with new IPs as the driving force behind his decisions.
Walters Wants to Work on New Things with a “Scrappy” Team
Describing his work on the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition project, Walters described its approval by EA as something unplanned, a far cry from their usual meticulousness and foresight when planning the studio’s standard fare: mammoth big-budget RPGs.
This unplanned nature of the project brought with it a roguish, unpolished way of working that harkened back to Walters’ earlier days in the field—a reminder that contributed to his departure for greener pastures.
"The way to make that successful was really for me to be little bit rogue," Walters explained. "A little bit sort of entrepreneurial in how we were going to build this out with the people we had and people we could get without disrupting other teams in the meantime.
"That process reminded me a lot of early BioWare, we were a small scrappy team and people wearing lots of different hats," Walters continued. That small team bred camaraderie, and the chance to work with different people external to BioWare as he brought in a co-development partner was also appealing, he continued.
"This is the future - this is how AAA gaming needs to go when you look at how complex and challenging it is," he clarified. "And so a lot of that was reminding me of... y'know, call it the good old days, or whatever."
BioWare and EA Were Unlikely to Greenlight New IPs
Apart from the allure of a more down-to-earth and scrappy approach to game design that he’s come to miss, Walters attributed his departure to the unlikeliness of his ideas taking flight.
Walters continues, "To be fair, I asked around, ‘Can we do something like this with Bioware, is there an opportunity at EA?’" His answers were met with disappointment, as it dawned on him that neither EA nor BioWare will provide the change in scenery he desired. " That’s when I started thinking, ‘No, I think I’m done.’"
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition was a commercial success, serving as a grand capstone to Walters’ work with a series that he’s been with since the very beginning.
"I don't want to do any more Mass Effect after this," Walters said. "Why tempt fate?"
Walters’ New Ventures with Worlds Untold
This departure is merely the end of a chapter for Walters, one where he ends his tenure at BioWare on a high note and starts anew at the helm of NetEase’s new studio based in Vancouver, Worlds Untold.
Walters has discussed the goals of the new studio before, describing a focus on narrative and immersive storytelling through world-building. A sneak peek at the new studio’s first project reveals it to be a near-future action-adventure game set "in a breathtaking world filled with mystery and exploration."
It’s too early to tell how well Worlds Untold will perform with Walters at the helm. In the meantime, Walters and his new team will try to "avoid painting ourselves in a corner."
Source:
Mac Walters' Interview with MinnMax
