Bioware’s Casey Hudson (General Manager) and Mark Darrah (Dragon Age 4 executive producer), are departing the company. EA confirmed this via a Bioware blog post. For many, this couldn’t have come at a worse time, as not only did Bioware recently announce the Mass Effect Trilogy Legendary remaster, but also eagerly anticipated Dragon Age 4.
Ironically, this marks the second time that Casey Hudson has departed ways with Bioware. Back in 2014, Hudson had left Bioware and ended up at Microsoft Studios as a creative director. As of July 2017, Casey returned to Bioware, replacing Aaryn Flynn as GM of the studio.
The post reads, “We strive for all of our studios to be places where talented creative people come to do career-defining work,” “A dimension of this ambition is that sometimes those people want to try something different. Casey Hudson, GM, BioWare and Mark Darrah, Executive Producer, Dragon Age are two people and have decided to move on from BioWare.”
“I want to personally thank Casey and Mark for everything they have done for the BioWare community, and particularly for our players. They will always be an essential part of the studio’s history, we appreciate their many contributions, and we look forward to seeing what they’ll each do next.”
Both Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah have also posted their final words over on the Bioware blog. While this could be considered doom and gloom, both Casey and Mark remain optimistic for Bioware, despite parting ways.
Bioware has already confirmed that Samantha Ryan will oversee the studio. With Mark no longer attached to Dragon Age 4, Bioware has shuffled Christian Daily to head up Dragon Age 4. Christian was originally working on the update/relaunch update of Anthem, which many consider being the second biggest failure from Bioware, the first being Mass Effect Andromeda.
Thank you all for the love and enthusiasm you've shared with me re: Anthem. Wishing my friends @caseyDHudson and @bioMarkDarrah the very best. Big shoes to fill as I join the DA team. Tough decision but made easier because of the talented Anthem leadership and team in place. 🐉🤖
— Christian Dailey (@ChristianDailey) December 3, 2020
With Christian no longer working on Anthem, many are doubting that the game will ever be relaunched. And while Christian is optimistic that the team working on Anthem is in a good place, this remains to be seen. Anthem, which promised to fulfill the power fantasy with high-powered suits of destruction, left many disappointed. After failing to meet expectations, EA and Bioware decided to relaunch the game. It’s been in a bad place ever since then, and while I try to remain confident the title will return, all signs have said otherwise.
Things are looking bleak over at Bioware, as this marks more departures from the company. Before today, Ben Irving, lead producer on them, departed in August 2019, followed up by Fernando Melo, a producer on Mass Effect Andromeda, Dragon Age Origins, and Dragon Age 4.
