In a surprising announcement on Twitter, senior development director, Chris Wynn, announces his departure from BioWare and his work on Mass Effect Andromeda.

As fans continue to wait for any morsel of details about Mass Effect Andromeda, the project has hit a snag as just last week senior development director Chris Wynn surprisingly announced his departure from the game and the studio as a whole. At this time, BioWare Montreal does not have a replacement for Wynn and with the holiday vacation in full effect, there's no telling how long it'll be until news of a successor is announced.

Wynn hasn't revealed why he suddenly decided to leave BioWare in the middle of development on Mass Effect Andromeda, but we do know that he is returning to the United States of America thanks to his initial Tweet. Prior to joining BioWare Montreal, Wynn worked as a producer at Epic Games and Microsoft, helping to launch games like Gears of War 3 and Gears of War Judgment.

Considering how long Wynn has been working on the game, the sudden news of his departure is a bit shocking and will surely lead to some speculation among fans. It'll also be interesting to see how this news affects development on the game, if at all.

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While the Wynn departure remains a shock, it's not all bad news for the upcoming game as the studio did manage to bring back longtime lead writer, Drew Karpyshyn, back into the fold. After taking a three year hiatus to work on writing projects away from the video game industry, Karpyshyn felt the time was right to rejoin BioWare, though at this moment, the project he has started working on hasn't been revealed. With some mega BioWare franchise like Mass Effect, Knight of the Old Republic, and Baldur's Gate under his belt, Karpyshyn is surely a welcomed addition back to the studio.

After its announcement at E3 2015 earlier this year, fans have been eagerly awaiting any sort of information from BioWare, who has remained tight lipped on the experience. So far, a few details have managed to reach the public, such as Commander Shepard being replaced by someone potentially named Ryder, but for the most part, the experience as a whole remains behind closed doors. A potential leak may have given fans an even better look at some of the mechanics coming in this latest entry, but until BioWare comes out with more details, it's all just speculation for now.

With Chris Wynn being a central figure in this franchise, are you nervous of the future or is new blood something this series needs? Let us know your thoughts below in the comments.

Mass Effect Andromeda is scheduled for release later in 2016 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Source: Chris Wynn Twitter