Mass Effect: Andromeda Lead Writer Leaves BioWare To Join Bungie

On November 7, 2014 ("N7 Day" as it's known to Mass Effect fans), BioWare introduced Chris Schlerf as the new lead writer for its upcoming follow-up to the beloved Shepard trilogy. Schlerf, who was the lead writer of Halo 4, joined BioWare Montreal to work on the game we now know as Mass Effect: Andromeda. Today, through a series of tweets, Schlerf confirmed that he has left BioWare to join Bungie.

You can read his tweets on his departure from BioWare and arrival at Bungie below.

To confirm what some folks asked about a few months back, I am no longer working on ME:A at BioWare Montreal.

— schlerf (@schlerf) February 16, 2016

Sincerely one of the best experiences of my career-I'm incredibly grateful to have worked w/ such talented & truly wonderful human beings.

— schlerf (@schlerf) February 16, 2016

Think MEA is really gonna blow people away; couldn't be prouder to be part of it, & excited like a lil kid to play the final when it's out.

— schlerf (@schlerf) February 16, 2016

All that said, very happy to be back in Seattle, working with this scrappy little company called Bungie that some of you may have heard of.

— schlerf (@schlerf) February 16, 2016

Think we might have some interesting stories to tell...

— schlerf (@schlerf) February 16, 2016

The news comes hot on the heels of another major departure from BioWare: David Gaider, who was instrumental in crafting the Dragon Age universe. Gaider recently announced that he has joined Beamdog as creative director. Just a few weeks prior to that, Andromeda's senior development director, Chris Wynn, announced his departure from the team. Wynn has since become the executive producer of H1Z1 at Daybreak.

Mass Effect: Andromeda was officially unveiled at last year's E3 and is currently slated to release sometime in 2016.

We have reached out to EA for more information and will update this story if we receive comment.

[Source: Chris Schlerf on Twitter]

Our Take
It's impossible to know what this means for Mass Effect: Andromeda. It could mean that BioWare wanted to go in a different direction, or it could simply mean that Schlerf got a good offer from Bungie. Either way, there seems to be quite a few critical people leaving BioWare lately. I'm hoping it doesn't point to bigger problems.