Mass Effect writer left BioWare because it was becoming too “corporate”

Drew Karpyshyn, the lead writer on Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, has said that BioWare became less creative and “more corporate” as the company’s ambitions grew (via VG247). 

Karpyshyn was hired in 2000, and spent twelve years working with BioWare, penning stories for Baldur’s Gate, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and the SW:TOR games. “I’ve been in the video game industry for twenty years now. When I started at BioWare, everything was fresh and exciting. It was a dream job – talented people working together to create epic games,” said the industry veteran in a post on his website. “But as we grew and became more successful, things changed. We became more corporate. We were less able to make what we loved, and the teams were pushed to create games based on market research rather than our creative instincts and passions.”

He found that his “dream job became just a job,” and BioWare’s evolving structure and approach to game development didn’t interest him any longer. Karpyshyn has now joined fellow former BioWare employees James Ohlson and Chad Robertson at Archetype Entertainment. He will be the lead writer on its “multi-platform roleplaying game set in a new science fiction universe,” and described “the magic in the air” at the studio. “I know we have big shoes to fill. With BioWare, I was part of a legacy that will endure forever. We created some of the most beloved CRPGs of the past two decades,” said Karpyshyn. “But I truly believe at Archetype we have the talent and the opportunity to do something just as amazing!”

Recently, BioWare revealed its intentions to reboot Anthem to maximise the “full potential” of the online multiplayer sci-fi role-playing experience. “I am so proud of the work the team has put into this game, and at the same time there’s so much more that we—and you—would have wanted from it,” announced general manager Casey Hudson. “We recognize that there’s still more fundamental work to be done… and it will require a more substantial reinvention than an update or expansion.”