There has been a major shakeup at Bioware as the company looks to put the lukewarm reception and poor sales that 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' received behind it. This will be even more prudent as the company turns its focus towards its big, new upcoming IP 'anthem.' Aaryn Flynn, who has been the general manager at Bioware for the past few years, has stepped down. He will be replaced by an old face at Bioware, Casy Hudson.

Aaryn Flynn's time at Bioware

Aaryn Flynn announced in a blog post on the Bioware website that he would be stepping down as general manager and leaving the company after 17 years.

In his blog post, titled 'Thank You For Everything', Flynn said that he decided to step away from Bioware once he found out that Casey Hudson had expressed interest in returning. However, he also stated that he has been “contemplating changes in my own life for some time” and the news of Hudson interest in returning was the catalyst to make the decision. Flynn also said he would be working with Hudson in the coming weeks to catch him up on everything at the company.

Flynn was director of programming on 'Dragon Age: Origins' and 'Mass Effect 2', before becoming general manager. During his time as GM he oversaw the production of 'Dragon Age 2', 'Mass Effect 3', 'Dragon Age: Inquisition' and 'Mass Effect: Andromeda.'

Hudson comes back to the company

Casy Hudson left Bioware back in 2014 after 16 years with the company to work on other projects and would end up joining Microsoft Studios in 2015 as a creative director with a focus on the HoloLens.

Like Aaryn Flynn did, Hudson also made the official announcement of the news via Bioware's company website, in a letter titled 'Coming Home.' Hudson started his career at Bioware working as a technical artist on games like 'MDK2' and 'Neverwinter Nights.' He then became project director of 'Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic' and held the same role working on the Mass Effect Trilogy.

Hudson does have experience with Bioware's upcoming game 'Anthem' as it was originally his brainchild. As early as 2012, Hudson and a team were in the processing of imagining the new series, which would not be officially revealed until this year's E3 event during Microsoft's press conference. The game is currently scheduled to release in the fall of 2018.

'Anthem' will be the first non-Mass Effect, Dragon Age or Star Wars game that Bioware will have released since 'Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood' for the DS in 2008.
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