It’s a sad day for BioWare fans as one of the studio’s longest-tenured employees has officially left the company. Mac Walters, whose career at BioWare spans 19 plus years, announced via Twitter that he left the studio late last year which mostly went unnoticed. Walters himself did not make any formal announcement at the time, making his official status a mystery to many once the madness of the holidays ended. Walters ended up clearing the air himself with a heartfelt thank you to the company that he called home for so long.

As several of you noticed, I’ve moved on from BioWare. Late last year I made the very tough decision to leave after 19+ years. It was an unforgettable journey, with so many wonderful people and incredible teams and projects along the way. All the very best to everyone at BioWare!

— Mac Walters (@macwalterslives) January 23, 2023

On Walter’s LinkedIn page, it states that he is currently taking a “career break” as he pursues his own personal goals. Walter’s departure is just the newest of many long-tenured employees leaving the studio for different ventures in recent years. Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah both left at the same time in December 2020 with the former creating his own video game studio. Hudson’s studio recently announced that they were working on a brand new IP in a whole new sci-fi universe. As we already mentioned, Walters has no immediate plans on creating a new studio or joining an established one.

Walter’s career at BioWare started way back in 2003 as a writer for Jade Empire, which released in 2005 and would go on to be generally well-received. Walter’s role at BioWare was heavily elevated to senior writer for the studio’s brand-new original IP, Mass Effect. He would then take on the role of lead writer for the sequels, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. The Mass Effect Trilogy is now considered one of the best sagas in video game history, with the 2nd entry often being hailed as one of the greatest video games of all time. Walter then took on a director’s role with Mass Effect Andromeda and the ill-fated Anthem. 

Before leaving the studio, Walters was tapped as the production director for the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, the long-awaited sequel to Dragon Age: Inquisition. It’ll be interesting to see what BioWare will do now that Walters is officially off of the project. The studio is also working on another Mass Effect entry, this time as a direct follow-up to the Mass Effect trilogy.