Mac Walters is a video game developer best known for his work at BioWare as a writer on the Mass Effect series.[1]
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 . 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.
Walters became the production director on . In 2023, Walters announced he was leaving BioWare after 19 years with the company. In November 2023, NetEase announced the establishment of Worlds Untold, a new studio in Vancouver, Canada led by Walters.[10] [11] [12]
| 2005 | Jade Empire | Writer | |
| 2007 | Mass Effect | Writer | |
| 2010 | Mass Effect 2 | Lead writer | |
| 2012 | Mass Effect 3 | Lead writer | |
| 2017 | Creative director | ||
| 2019 | Anthem | Narrative director | |
| 2021 | Mass Effect: Legendary Edition | Project director |