Casey Hudson, Mark Darrah depart BioWare

General manager Casey Hudson and Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah are leaving BioWare.

In a blog post from EA chief studios officer Laura Miele, she thanked the pair for their years of work at the company and reassured that announced projects such as the next Dragon Age title and Mass Effect: The Legendary Edition would proceed as planned.

Samantha Ryan will continue to oversee BioWare as SVP of mobile, Maxis, and BioWare at EA while a search for a new general manager is conducted, while Gary McKay, senior director of development operations, will serve as interim studio general manager.

Meanwhile, Blizzard veteran and BioWare Austin studio director Chistian Dailey will take over leadership on the upcoming Dragon Age game as executive producer, while Matthew Goldman will remain as creative director.

"When I think about BioWare's future and the next generation of talent in place, I could not be more confident or optimistic," Miele wrote.

"As we look to the studio's future and the projects currently under development, the next generation of BioWare talent is leading the studio forward and working on some incredible games that I know you will be excited to experience in the coming years."

In a separate farewell of his own, Hudson reflected on his nearly 20 years at BioWare, which included numerous director roles on games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the Mass Effect trilogy.

Hudson departed BioWare in 2014 and briefly joined Microsoft as a creative director, before returning to BioWare in 2017 as general manager.

In his farewell, Hudson noted that he did not yet know what his next project would be.

"Arriving at this point has been an opportunity for me to reflect on my own future, and 2020 has been a year that forced all of us to re-imagine how we think about work and life," he said. "For me, it's been the realization that I still have tremendous energy to create, but also that I need to try something different. I'm not sure exactly what that is yet, but I know that I want to start by rediscovering my creative passion through more personal work."

In his own farewell post, Durrah was also reflective on a 23-year career with the studio, most of which was spent as executive producer on the Dragon Age franchise.

"More than anything I am thankful for the ability to have touched so many lives. To have given people a chance to explore themselves through our games. I like to think I have helped make some of your lives a little better. I hope I'm right.

"I don't know what's next for me, but I'm excited to find out. Just as I'm excited to find out what Dragon Age now becomes."