Two senior staff members at BioWare have parted ways with the company in just two days, with Anthem lead producer Ben Irving announcing his departure on August 15th and Fernando Melo, a senior producer for Dragon Age, following suit on August 17th.
On the 15th, Irving sent out a series of Tweets that confirmed that after 8 years at BioWare, he was parting ways with the studio in favour of accepting an “exciting opportunity” elsewhere.
(1/3) After 8 amazing years at BioWare I have made the decision to move on and have accepted an exciting opportunity at another gaming company. Since the first time I played Baldurs Gate many many years ago, BioWare was the dream place I always wanted to work.
— Ben Irving (@BenIrvo) August 15, 2019
“I will forever be grateful to all the people who gave me the chance to work on great products with amazing people. I believe Anthem has a bright future – there is a great team working on it and I look forward to following its progress (and playing it!) from the sidelines.” Irving said in a follow up Tweet.
Only two days later, on August 17th, Melo announced his departure in a similar way, sending out a string of Tweets that included his parting email to the studio.
Melo had been with BioWare for 12 years, having credits in both the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, and emphasises that his leaving the studio is entirely his own decision.
(3/4) Here's my parting email to the studio since it also goes out to all of those I've had to pleasure to work with before, and helped to make it a fun and unforgettable ride, but couldn't get that email. pic.twitter.com/E1c4q2UafF
— Fernando Melo (@DiscoBabaloo) August 17, 2019
In his parting email, Melo says that the next Dragon Age game (codenamed ‘Morrison’) is “well underway to becoming the definitive Dragon Age experience” and that he is “incredibly proud and honoured to have played a part in that.”
We wish both Irving and Melo all the luck in their future endeavours.