A key designer at BioWare, the game company behind the popular Mass Effect and Star Wars: The Old Republic franchises, has left after seven years. Now, he has taken to Twitter to look for a new job and offer comments on the direction of the gaming industry.
Daniel Erickson, lead designer of The Old Republic, created a Twitter account Wednesday. His kickoff tweet was the first public confirmation of his departure.
“As part of leaving BioWare I’m officially starting a twitter account for job hunt and design thoughts,” he announced.
His second tweet attacked his perceived direction of the gaming industry, commenting on free-to-play and mobile games: “When 90% of the industry is saying the exact same thing (social, mobile, [free-to-play]!) a huge number of people are going to lose that race.”
In an October 5 tweet, he also expressed his dissatisfaction with development teams.
“Job Hunt: I find myself quickly turned off when talking to developers with 200-300+ person teams. I miss scrappy little teams of brilliance,” he tweeted.
So far, Erickson has not announced any developments in his job search. A congratulatory tweet to Old Republic producer Rich Vogel for heading up a new extension of Bethesda Softworks in Austin, Texas, has led followers to ask if employment with that company is in his future.
BioWare has not commented on Erickson’s departure on its blog or Twitter account.
Erickson’s departure is the latest blow to the company, which has seen a somewhat rocky year. In mid-September, co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk announced their retirements from the industry.
The company faced one of the biggest online backlashes the gaming industry has ever seen after the release of Mass Effect 3 in 2012. Longtime fans of the series vigorously protested the game’s lackluster ending, even organizing boycotts of BioWare and parent company EA. In response, the company released an “extended cut” of the ending in July.
Photo via Daniel Erickson/Twitter