Drew Karpyshyn, who has worked at BioWare as lead writer for twelve years, recently announced on his blog that he's retiring from the gaming industry. His most recent work includes co-writing the Mass Effect 2 script, and serving as lead writer for the just-launched Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG over the last three years.

"Just to be clear, the parting was completely amicable, and 100-percent my decision," he said in a blog on Wednesday. "For the past twelve years I’ve had the privilege to work at one of the best companies in the video game industry, side by side with the most talented and incredible group of people I’ve ever had the good fortune to know. I’ve enjoyed my time at BioWare immensely, but it’s time for me to move on."

He said that he's leaving to focus more time and energy on his novels and other non-video game related projects. He's not completely severing his ties with BioWare, as many of his closest friends still reside with the developer. In addition, he's in the process of writing the next SW:TOR novel, but wouldn't go into specifics.

"I know going forward that BioWare will continue to live up to its well deserved reputation for making the best story driven games in the industry," he said. "The story and dialog in any BioWare game is the result of an entire team of writers working together, and I often felt I received an excessive amount of the credit for the games we created. The Dragon Age games and the continued success of the Mass Effect series after my departure make it pretty clear that BioWare can get along just fine without me, and I’m looking forward to experiencing the games as a fan rather than from the other side of the fence."

"Even if you are someone who is going to miss my contributions to the video game world, I hope you’ll be somewhat mollified by the fact that I’m going to have more time for novels, screenplays and other projects," he added.

Screenplays, eh? Sounds like someone is going to Hollywood, and it's not with a golden American Idol ticket.