Video Games

Worlds Untold, another studio led by BioWare alumni, is pausing operations

A new partner is needed

Marco Wutz

Worlds Untold

It’s been a bad week for studios led by former BioWare employees: After the closure of Casey Hudson’s Humanoid Origin, Worlds Untold is the next company to share miserable news with the public.

“It’s hard to find the right words for this, but I wanted to share that we’ve made the very difficult decision to pause operations at Worlds Untold while we search for a new partner to help bring our vision to life,” a statement by studio boss Mac Walters on LinkedIn said. “This was not a decision we made lightly – it’s been a deeply personal journey, and we’re all so proud of everything this team has built together.”

Mac Walters worked on the Mass Effect series as a lead writer while he was at BioWare, taking the leadership role at Worlds Untold when it was founded in November 2023. He gathered other notable industry creatives to work on the studio’s debut title, an action adventure in a near-future setting, such as producer Elizabeth Lehtonen (Dragon Age, The Sims) and composer Sotaro Tojima (Metal Gear Solid, Halo). 

Screenshot from Worlds Untold's unreleased game.
A screenshot from Worlds Untold's project. / Worlds Untold

NetEase Games provided funding for the fully remote studio. Given that Worlds Untold is now seeking for “a new partner”, the Chinese company may have pulled back on its investment recently.

Though Worlds Untold is not ready to call this a shutdown yet, it has given leave to its employees to look for other opportunities. “If you’re looking for passionate, talented professionals, please reach out – I’d be honored to connect you with some of the best people I’ve ever worked with,” Walters wrote.

“This is a heartbreaking moment for everyone involved, but I’m deeply grateful for the support of our partners, friends and family, and for the time we’ve had together at Worlds Untold. While we’re pausing for now, this isn’t goodbye – there’s more to come, and we look forward to sharing the next chapter with you when the time is right,” he added.

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Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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