Mass Effect 2 and
3's lead gameplay designer, Christina Norman, recently left BioWare for a new position. Gamasutra can confirm that Norman has joined
League of Legends house Riot Games in a lead designer position.
"I am thankful for my experience working on the
Mass Effect series at BioWare, and think that
Mass Effect 3 is going to be the best game in the series," Norman told us.
"I’m looking forward to working with Riot on innovative new approaches to game design and game development in the rapidly-changing video game market," she adds.
Late last month BioWare's community manager, Chris Priestly,
said on the official forums that Norman was no longer with the
Mass Effect franchise, noting she'd gotten married and moved away from Edmonton. She confirmed her departure
via her Twitter account shortly thereafter.
BioWare says it had ample knowledge and time to prepare for Norman's departure, and that
Mass Effect 1 and
2 lead designer Preston Watamaniuk has stepped up to fill her role.
Riot is headquartered in Los Angeles. Founded in 2006, developing and operating team-based
Defense of the Ancients-like
League of Legends is currently the studio's sole operation. Norman's last project at BioWare,
Mass Effect, is scheduled for release in March 2012.
