Former Mass Effect writer Mac Walters has founded a new studio to develop “AAA action adventure games with an emphasis on narrative and worldbuilding”.
The new studio, called Worlds Untold, is backed by Chinese game firm NetEase, and is based in Vancouver, Canada as a fully remote company.
Mac Walters was lead writer on Mass Effect 2 and 3, project director on the well-received Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, and production director on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, and had been with BioWare for nearly two decades before leaving the company earlier this year.
“We’re creating incredible and meaningful stories that we believe are best told and experienced through play," Walters commented. "We are starting by crafting worlds that we all dream of discovering and then will put the player in the leading role of the most unforgettable adventures. The team at NetEase Games shares our vision and passion to utilize leading edge technology to create the best possible new games. Their teams’ support and creative freedom affords us the opportunity to deliver on that vision.”
It sounds like the hope is Worlds Untold will build franchises that go beyond games. “Walters and his team built Worlds Untold to create IPs with depth and possibility that can't be contained in a single game, or even a single medium,” NetEase said. “The team’s debut project is underway, a near future, action adventure game in a breathtaking world filled with mystery and exploration.”
Worlds Untold includes a number of industry veterans, such as audio director Sotaro Tojima, who has worked on Metal Gear Solid and Halo; head of production Elizabeth Lehtonen, who has worked on Dragon Age, The Sims, and Angry Birds; and head of art Ramil Sunga, who has more than two decades of creative experience in various concept art roles on Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, and the entire lineup Dragon Age games. Head of technology Ben Goldstein has nearly two decades in the games industry leading projects such as the next generation Xbox One version of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the PlayStation 4 version of For Honor, and most recently worked at Tesla and Cruise building out their respective simulation platforms.
Meanwhile, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is still without a release date. The long-awaited RPG is not expected to launch until after April 2024.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
