Mass Effect 4 lead writer revealed as Halo 4 veteran Chris Schlerf

BioWare has announced that the lead writer of the next Mass Effect game—fingers still crossed for M4ss Effect—is Chris Schlerf, perhaps better known to the gaming world at large as the writer of Halo 4.

Schlerf joined BioWare in November 2013, and managed to keep his work on Mass Effect a secret until today's announcement. "Every day is a revelation and every day I get to play in a new corner of the universe," Schlerf said, reinforcing the idea that Mass Effect 4 will be entirely separate from the original trilogy. "To be able to look three steps ahead to, ‘Where does this take us and how does it add to the way we look at the Mass Effect trilogy?’ You couldn’t ask for a better playground."

"As a writer, I write for characters," he continued. "To me, it’s always about what makes my characters tick and what stories I can tell through those characters that will actually engage people about their own lives. It provides a mirror to that player’s experience [so that they are] not just sitting back in an armchair."

The announcement also revealed a number of other lead developers on the game, including Senior Development Director Chris Wynn, Producer Fabrice Condominas, Lead Designer Ian Frazier, Art Director Joel MacMillan, Creative Director Mac Walters, Producer Mike Gamble, and BioWare Montreal Studio Director Yanick Roy. BioWare's Montreal studio is leading the development of the project.

BioWare will reveal more about the game during a Mass Effect developer roundtable that will be broadcast live on Twitch at 10 am PST/1 pm EST.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.