Dragon Age and Mass Effect veteran Trick Weekes is among a group of BioWare veterans who have announced they are now looking for work, following the news that BioWare is downsizing.
Posting on social media, Weekes said they were now seeking a fresh writing position after two decades at BioWare, culminating in work on last year’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Yesterday, BioWare publicly confirmed what former studio veteran Mark Darrah had previously noted – that Mass Effect 5 was still early in development and that the studio had therefore shifted a large number of its staff onto other projects within publisher EA while a small “core team” continued to build the project up.
IGN later reported that a smaller group of BioWare employees had been told their roles had been terminated, and been given time to apply for new positions within EA.
This was reflected in half a dozen posts on social media from staff impacted by the redundancies, who had held senior positions on Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
“I’m now looking for a new writing/narrative position,” Weekes wrote. “It’s been a privilege to work with so many amazing devs over my 20 years at BioWare, and I will cherish the memories of the wonderful folks in the community I’ve met along the way. Thank you all.”
Weekes served as a writer on Mass Effect 1 and 2, before being promoted to a senior writer on Mass Effect 3. Weekes contributed to that game’s brilliant genophage story arc, and also wrote for many of the series’ best DLCs, including Lair of the Shadow Broker, Leviathan and Citadel.
More recently, Weekes served as a writer on Dragon Age: Inquisition, and then as a lead writer on Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Other BioWare staff who have publicly said they are looking for work include editor Karin West-Weekes and narrative designer Ryan Cormier, as well as producer Jen Cheverie and systems designer Michelle Flamm.
According to a social media post by former BioWare writer Ann Lemay, who worked at the studio between 2011 and 2016, the studio now no longer employs any writers or editors from that period, following this week’s cuts and a number of previous departures.
For better or worse, then, it looks like Mass Effect 5 will be written by a completely separate team of people from those who worked on Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
BioWare’s next big project is being helmed by Mass Effect veteran Mike Gamble, alongside a team of returning staff who worked on the original Mass Effect trilogy such as Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts and Parrish Ley.
This group is now set to continue BioWare’s early work on Mass Effect 5, which – despite numerous teases of what’s in store – is still several years away.