Mac Walters

Walters joined BioWare in 2003 as a writer on Jade Empire.^[2] He followed this with a senior writer on the first Mass Effect game, before becoming lead writer on the second and third entry in the series.^[3] As the writing team worked on the story, Walters encouraged the team to focus more on characters, to get players invested in the events of the game.^[4] Around the time of the second Mass Effect game, Walters also wrote the story for a spin-off comic called Mass Effect: Redemption.^[5] In 2013, Walters was also nominated for a BAFTA award for his writing on Mass Effect 3.^[6]

He briefly served as narrative director on Anthem,^[7] before returning to the Mass Effect universe as creative director on Mass Effect: Andromeda.^[2] As they began work on Andromeda, Walters encouraged the team to return to a creative place where "anything is possible", rather than simply making Mass Effect 4.^[4] During this time, Walters also penned a novel to bridge the narrative events of the Mass Effect trilogy and Andromeda.^[8] The planned fourth novel was effectively canceled, as Walters' duties as creative director of Andromeda eventually took precedence, and development has stalled for the Mass Effect film.^[9] After the release of Andromeda, Walters became project director for Mass Effect Legendary Edition.^[2]

Walters became the production director on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.^[3] In 2023, he announced he was leaving BioWare after 19 years with the company.^[2] Walters established Worlds Untold, which was acquired by NetEase in November 2023.^[10][11][12] However, NetEase withdrew its funding from Worlds Untold, resulting in the studio "pausing" its operations the next year.^[13]