Somewhat breaking news, video game lovers! Chris Schlerf has moved on from BioWare Montreal for Bungie. After concluding his work on Mass Effect: Andromeda, the lead writer of awesome games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age has jumped onto the Bungie train to be the lead writer on the upcoming Destiny sequel.
While it seems there is no bad blood between Schlerf, who called his time working on the two game franchises one of the “best experiences” of his career, it is exciting to see what a great writer could do with the next installment of Destiny – having previously worked on Halo 4. That is, of course, if his hands aren’t tied.
This raises a few questions, mainly: What can Schlerf offer the Destiny franchise? The Bungie title has received praise for the game, but heavy criticism for the lack of story- that is until you download all of the DLC. 
Schlerf’s first work, Mass Effect, is a widely successful intergalactic adventure that extends to several sequels from 2007- to the upcoming release of Mass Effect: Andromeda in 2017. Over the years, the game series has solidified itself as a mainstay action RPG of sorts and has a universal following. Bungie, on the other hand, is responsible for most of the Halo series – a juggernaut franchise for the XBOX – before the buyout and their next project, the online-FPS Destiny.
Both of these series are in a similar ‘sci-fi mystical adventures’ vein, but one can’t help but wonder what this partnership could mean for both franchises. What will happen to Mass Effect following the departure of the lead writer? What will Destiny inherit?
Destiny’s greatest flaw wasn’t in the game play, but in the string of “Pay to play” content that would “evolve” the world overtime. If you don’t have deep pockets, Destiny could be a very disappointing game experience. Plus, with the original Destiny purchase, players had to access a website in order to figure out what was going on. The story lacked cohesive connections, was filled with shallow plots, and uninspired settings. Though it was positively received, it wasn’t without major flaws. This didn’t stop it from being one of the highest selling games of 2014. This raises an important question: would hiring a well-known writer help a series that is near the end of development?
While Destiny is slotted to get a huge expansion at the end of the year, Destiny 2 will not be out until 2017 – which, truth be told, is not actually that far away. Recently, Bungie made mention that the sequel would experience a delay; this may be because of the involvement of Schlerf.
One can only hope he can add something brilliant to the story.
What do you all think? Have any theories as to why Schlerf decided to part ways with BioWare and join team Bungie? Will this help or hurt these two well-known game franchises? Let us know in the comments below!
