Guardians of the Galaxy writer joins BioWare
UPDATE: To work on Mass Effect, after almost 15 years at Eidos.
UPDATE 5/7/22: Deus Ex writer Mary DeMarle will work on the next Mass Effect game, it's been confirmed.
Mass Effect director Michael Gamble confirmed the news via Twitter last night, shortly after it emerged DeMarle was joining BioWare.
DeMarle most recently worked on Eidos Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy. At BioWare, she will serve as the Mass Effect project's senior narrative director.
"Oh, hey!" Gamble wrote. "I'm really excited to let you know that Mary DeMarle will be joining the Mass Effect team as Senior Narrative Director. You've seen her work in Guardians of the Galaxy & Deus Ex (to name a few!). She's amazing."
The next Mass Effect is still relatively early in its production - so DeMarle joining to work on its narrative makes sense. We're not expecting to see it released for a while yet - and certainly not before BioWare's upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
ORIGINAL STORY 3/7/22: Deus Ex and Guardians of the Galaxy writer, Mary DeMarle, has joined BioWare.
As spotted by our friends at VGC, DeMarle announced the move on her LinkedIn account, stating: "I'm happy to share that I'm starting a new position as Senior Narrative Director at EA/BioWare!"
"Mary DeMarle is an award-winning Narrative Director/Writer in the Games Industry with a solid record of accomplishments in creating such best-selling games as Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Myst 4: Revelation, Myst 3: Exile And Homeworld 2," reads her impressive LinkedIn profile.
DeMarle had spent almost 15 years at Eidos before making the move to BioWare and before that, worked at Ubisoft. At the time of writing, there's no hint yet on what DeMarle's first BioWare project will be, but - as always - we'll update just as soon as we know nore.
I found getting through Guardians of the Galaxy a bit of a slog when I reviewed it for Eurogamer, but its "thoughtful" storyline kept me glued right until the end.
"There's a lot here that Eidos can be proud of, but those things are hard to find amongst an oversaturation of gameplay systems and mechanics, and uninspired combat," I wrote at the time (and still stand by, by the way).
"As much as I enjoyed the game's stunning set-pieces and thoughtful storyline - not to mention the prerequisite post-credits (and post-post-credits) scenes - unlocking the full complement of your pals' sparring skillsets and getting to the end of Guardians of the Galaxy feels like an unmitigated slog when you're fighting an endless sea of tanky, bullet-spongey Centurions."