Mass Effect 2 and 3's lead gameplay designer, Christina Norman, recently left BioWare for a new position. Gamasutra can confirm that Norman has joined League of Legends house Riot Games in a lead designer position.
"I am thankful for my experience working on the Mass Effect series at BioWare, and think that Mass Effect 3 is going to be the best game in the series," Norman told us.
"I’m looking forward to working with Riot on innovative new approaches to game design and game development in the rapidly-changing video game market," she adds.
Late last month BioWare's community manager, Chris Priestly, said on the official forums that Norman was no longer with the Mass Effect franchise, noting she'd gotten married and moved away from Edmonton. She confirmed her departure via her Twitter account shortly thereafter.
BioWare says it had ample knowledge and time to prepare for Norman's departure, and that Mass Effect 1 and 2 lead designer Preston Watamaniuk has stepped up to fill her role.
Riot is headquartered in Los Angeles. Founded in 2006, developing and operating team-based Defense of the Ancients-like League of Legends is currently the studio's sole operation. Norman's last project at BioWare, Mass Effect, is scheduled for release in March 2012.
Wow, RIOT seems to be picking up some pretty big talent. I've heard rumor(and we all know to take rumor with a grain of salt) that RIOT is working on a second project.
I got as far as taking an art test for them last year. They never got back to me despite my several emails to the various HR and recruiters there. It kinda left me bitter since I made the effort to take the test (several hours of work -and not too shabby, so I thought) They could have at least told me it sucked if that was indeed the case..:( meh.
A lot of companies are like that. HR slacks when getting back to people about being rejected. They promise to tell you one way or another but they never do.
Don't let the location deter you from applying to Riot. I'm from Alabama, and that didn't stop me from applying and joining :) I'm currently working as an intern at Riot.
This is such awesome news! All I play on PC nowadays are League of Legends and Mass Effect 2, so this was a pleasant surprise! Welcome aboard, Christina!
Better luck in your endeavors!
Also, welcome Christina!