Aaron Linde, lead writer for Gearbox Software's competitive shooter Battleborn, announces he is leaving the studio for an upcoming "awesome opportunity."

The lead writer for Gearbox Software's "don't call it a MOBA" Battleborn has left the Texas-based studio to begin work on a new project. Aaron Linde announced his departure on Twitter, confirming that June 3rd was his last day writing for Gearbox. As lead writer on the game, Linde would have been a huge part of creating the strong personalities of the game's various characters and creating the story of the game's campaign modes, two elements of the team-based shooter that have been very well received.

"Gonna be hauling back up to the pacific northwest in a week or so for an awesome opportunity I'll talk more about soon," Linde tweeted. And followed it up by saying, "Absolutely love this team and am incredibly proud of the work we did together."

Battleborn has received mixed reviews due to some odd design choices and lack of content. However, one area most would say it succeeds is in the writing and character development. In speaking of the twenty-five playable characters, our Battleborn review said, "Gearbox injects a healthy dose of its trademark humor into the characters as well, making most of them a joy to play." It is with that in mind, then, that some would argue that many of the successes of Battleborn come directly from Linde's writing.

In addition to working as the lead writer on Battleborn, Linde's past projects have included a brief stint at Microsoft working on the Gears of War franchise, and more recently working as a writing consultant for Middle-earth: Shadows of Mordor. Although Shadows of Mordor was well-regarded for many reasons, many would say a shining point was the amount of personality infused into the characters through the Nemesis system, which allowed normal enemies to become more powerful as the player advanced.

At this point, it is difficult to tell if Battleborn will be able to sustain the level of popularity that other Gearbox titles, such as Borderlands 2, have been able to accomplish. If it does, a big part of it will most likely be on the back of its personality and story. Even so, Battleborn finds itself competing in a very crowded competitive shooter field with the likes of The Division and Overwatch, and has struggled to make a splash.

Although he has not yet stated the next project he will be working on, it will be interesting to see where Aaron Linde winds up. Judging from the praise he has received on prior works, it's likely that whatever project he lands on will have a distinctive personality to its writing.

Battleborn is available now for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

Source: Aaron Linde Twitter (via Gamespot)