In a big piece of news for two of the industry’s biggest titles, Chris Schlerf, the lead writer for Mass Effect: Andromeda has departed Bioware Montreal and joined Bungie as the new lead writer of Destiny.
Posting on Twitter, Schlerf explained, working on Mass Effect was “sincerely one of the best experiences of my career-I’m incredibly grateful to have worked w/ such talented & truly wonderful human beings.”
He continued, “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… Think we might have some interesting stories to tell…”
Schlerf was with Bioware for almost two years, starting in November of 2013, apparently leaving all the way back in September of last year. Before that however, he was also the lead writer on Halo 4 at 343 Industries.
He is only the most recent of multiple high profile departures from Bioware. In December Mass Effect: Andromeda Senior Development Director Chris Wynn left the company, while just recently Dragon Age creator David Gaider left, joining developer Beamdog.
In the case of Schlerf’s departure, at last year’s E3 it was announced we should expect Mass Effect: Andromeda Holiday 2016. With that in mind, it’s conceivably possible all the writing has already been completed, and he is simply moving on before starting work on the next project.
The news is actually much more notable for the evidence of Bungie taking the steps to really beef up Destiny’s story. Recently having announced we can expect a large update and another full expansion in 2016, followed by a full-fledged Destiny 2 next year, it will be interesting to see what changes an experienced writer like Schlerf brings to the Destiny universe.