BioWare CEO and producer of Dragon Age leaves studio

Casey Hudson, BioWare’s general manager, leaves the studio. He leaves himself and says he is doing that to make way for a ‘new generation’. Mark Darrah, the producer of the Dragon Age games, simultaneously announces his departure.

Hudson writes about his departure on BioWare’s blog, saying it is “a good time for change,” both for himself and for the studio. Hudson says he needs something new and wants to express his creative passion more in personal work.

BioWare has not yet appointed a new general manager. Gary McKay, who is now the studio’s senior director of development operations, will temporarily take over the role, while parent company EA looks for a successor. Mike Gamble, previously producer on Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, will be in charge of the ongoing Mass Effect projects.

Mark Darrah is leaving BioWare at the same time as Hudson. He had been with the studio since the 1990s and was responsible for Dragon Age games. He does not give a clear reason for his departure and he does not yet know what he will do next. Christian Dailey, who previously worked at Blizzard, will take over the role of executive producer for Dragon Age from Darrah.

EA thanks the two BioWare veterans in a blog post. The publisher says that the two themselves have decided to do something different and to respect that. Hudson and Darrah both worked at BioWare for about 20 years. Hudson was responsible for the first three Mass Effect games, among other things. He left the studio in 2014 to work at Microsoft on Xbox and HoloLens projects, but returned to BioWare in 2017.

BioWare is working on Dragon Age 4, among other things, and previously showed these images.