What you need to know
- Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah both have a long history at BioWare.
- Having formerly left BioWare before returning and becoming studio head, Hudson is now leaving.
- Darrah, executive producer on the Dragon Age franchise, is also leaving.
- Electronic Arts is now looking for a new head of studio for BioWare, while a new Dragon Age producer has already been chosen.
Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah, GM of BioWare and executive producer of Dragon Age games, respectively, are leaving BioWare. This news comes from a new blog post that also confirms the studio's existing projects are continuing, including the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition remaster, Dragon Age 4 and a new Mass Effect game.
Samantha Ryan will be overseeing BioWare for now until a new studio head is selected, while Christian Dailey, formerly of Blizzard Entertainment, is taking the role of executive producer on the next Dragon Age game currently in development, on which Matthew Goldman remains creative director. Mike Gamble is leading the team working on the recently-revealed new Mass Effect game.
Hudson worked at BioWare on games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect until 2014, when he joined Microsoft Studios. He then rejoined BioWare in 2017 as the new studio head. Darrah, another longtime veteran, worked on the Baldur's Gate franchise before eventually becoming executive producer on the entire Dragon Age series.
It'll be interesting to see what projects both Hudson and Darrah work on next. Several former members of BioWare, including James Ohlen and Drew Karpyshyn, have begun a new studio under Wizards of the Coast called Archetype Entertainment. This team is now working on an untitled multiplatform science-fiction role-playing game.
