Just days after the news broke that Anthem‘s Lead Producer Ben Irving would be leaving BioWare, another Lead Producer announced his plans to leave the company as well. Fernando Melo, the Lead Producer of the newest Dragon Age game, announced that his last day with the company was this past Friday. Melo had been with BioWare for over 12 years, working on not only Dragon Age, but the Mass Effect series as well.
In his 12 years with the company, Melo worked as a Senior Producer on Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, held the position of Director of Online Development, was a Senior Online Producer for Mass Effect: Andromeda, and finally, Lead Producer for the upcoming Dragon Age 4 (codenamed Morrison). Before BioWare, Melo held positions at both 2K Games and Take-Two Interactive. According to the Tweets by Melo, he has “been wanting to take some time to disconnect and explore a couple ideas for next chapter in [his] career.” He notes in the tweet that the decision to leave was his own, so it seems to just be a coincidence that it coincides with the departure of Irving.
While it is clear that Melo played an integral part in the creation of the new Dragon Age game, it does not appear that he is worried about leaving it in the hands of the team. “With a great game leadership team in place, a fantastic creative vision, and some of the best devs in the world, Morrison is well underway to becoming the definitive Dragon Age experience,” he says in his goodbye email to members if the studio. Melo, in addition to his next career venture, is looking forward to experiencing Dragon Age from the player’s perspective this time. He reminds those interested to keep tabs on his Twitter page to see what’s next for him.