Mass Effect fans who are looking for a new game with a similar vibe may now have somewhere else to turn besides BioWare.
In a press release shared this morning, NetEase Games announced the launch of Worlds Untold, a new global, triple-A game studio led by Mac Walters, an ex-veteran of BioWare who has helped write many of the Mass Effect games, including Mass Effect 2 and 3, where he served as Lead Writer.
Walters is also the guy who was responsible for helping steer Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, having served as Project Director for the remasters from BioWare that released in May 2021.
Here’s what Netease had to say about Walters and his role at Worlds Untold, which also employs many other industry veterans, including those who have worked on MGS, HALO, and other huge franchises:
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. 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, including Audio Director, Sotaro Tojima, who has over 20 years of experience in video game audio on titles such as Metal Gear Solid and HALO; Head of Production, Elizabeth Lehtonen, who has worked on Dragon Age, The Sims, and Angry Birds franchises; 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 of Dragon Age titles; Head of Technology, Ben Goldstein, with 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 PS4 version of For Honor and most recently worked at Tesla and Cruise building out their respective simulation platforms.
“We’re creating incredibly meaningful stories that we believe are best told and experienced through play. We are starting by crafting worlds that we all dream of discovering and then we’ll put the player in the leading role of the most unforgettable adventures,” said Mac Walters, CEO, Worlds Untold. “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.”
“NetEase Games believes in empowering creators to think outside the box and to help execute their vision as seamlessly as possible. Worlds Untold is building a team of highly experienced individuals to develop new worlds and action adventure games for all and we are excited to see what Mac and the team produce,” said Simon Zhu, president of global investments and partnerships at NetEase Games.
Whatever Worlds Untold is working on hasn’t been named yet, but the studio is currently hiring for numerous positions, including animators and software engineers.
Worlds Untold has noted that it’s a fully remote studio.