Mass Effect and Dragon Age lead Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah to quit BioWare



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BioWare Managing Director Casey Hudson and Dragon Age Executive Producer Mark Darrah are leaving the studio. Laura Miele, studio manager for Electronic Arts, announced the departures on the BioWare blog, alongside personal posts from Hudson and Darrah.

Hudson said in his memo that after nearly 20 years at BioWare, he had “made the decision to step out of the studio and make way for the next generation of studio heads.”

“When I became Studio GM just over three years ago, our goal as a management team was to position our people and projects for long-term success,” said Hudson. “Now that BioWare celebrates its 25th anniversary, the studio is ready for an exciting new era of amazing games. This year we have been inspired by the continued support of the community for our ongoing work on Star Wars: The Old Republic and Anthem. A few months ago, we took a closer look at the work that will unfold in the next great Dragon Age game. And on day N7, we announced Mass Effect: The legendary edition and gave a preview of what’s to come in the Mass Effect universe. It’s an exciting time, both in terms of projects you’ve heard about and things not yet announced.

“Getting to this point was a time for me to reflect on my own future, and 2020 has been a year that has forced us all to rethink the way we think about work and life. For me, it’s the realization that I still have a tremendous amount of energy to create, but also that I have to try something different. I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but I do know that I want to start by rediscovering my creative passion through more personal work.

Darrah will be replaced by Christian Dailey, director of BioWare Austin studio, as executive director of Dragon Age, Miele said. Like Hudson, Darrah called her departure from BioWare a studio retreat.

“It was a very difficult decision for me,” said Darrah. “The amazing team of developers on Dragon Age makes my life fuller and better. They taught me so much. But it is also the strength of the team that makes this possible. I know Dragon Age won’t just survive without me, it will thrive.

Hudson’s first credit at BioWare came as a designer and artist on MDK 2, released in 2000. He left BioWare in 2014 and joined Microsoft the following year. Hudson joined BioWare in 2017, replacing Managing Director Aaron Flynn.

Darrah joined BioWare in 1997 and originally worked as a programmer, according to her LinkedIn profile.

BioWare recently announced Mass Effect: the legendary edition, a collection of Mass Effect’s first three core games, and revealed the first artwork for the upcoming Mass Effect title. The developer also showed off the early development of a new Dragon Age game this summer.

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