Former Dragon Age lead author David Gaider does not suppose BioWare’s fantasy collection will return whereas owned by writer EA — although is aware of what he’d do if a fifth recreation was ever made.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched to blended opinions in late 2024 following an extended and rocky improvement. The ensuing fallout noticed BioWare downsized and its remaining employees tasked with pre-production on the subsequent Mass Impact, whereas a lot of the management behind The Veilguard had been moved elsewhere inside EA, or proven the door.
With BioWare’s sole remit now Mass Impact, the probabilities of one other Dragon Age appear slim — with no likelihood in any respect earlier than Mass Impact 5 arrives. (BioWare has made no point out of when that may occur, although IGN understands it’s possible nonetheless a pair years away.) Nonetheless, what would Gaider do if the franchise someway did return, and he received one other crack at it?
“I do like a problem,” Gaider instructed PC Gamer. “So if, out of some bizarre alignment of the celebrities, any individual handed the Dragon Age franchise again to me and mentioned, ‘Breathe the life again into this child’, that’d be a tricky one, however I believe that’d be an fascinating factor to do.
A 20-year BioWare veteran, Gaider was lead author on the primary three Dragon Age video games, departing earlier than the ultimate model of what would turn into Dragon Age: The Veilguard went into full manufacturing. His profession has additionally seen him write for Neverwinter Nights, a number of Baldur’s Gate 2 expansions, and the ill-fated Anthem.
“[I’d] return to the fundamentals of what made Dragon Age enchantment to so many individuals within the first place,” Gaider continued. “And go someplace darkish and harmful, and do issues that may make individuals upset. I believe that is what I’d wish to do with it.”
That would definitely differentiate the undertaking from The Veilguard, which confronted criticism for its writing, and a number of characters specifically who drew ire for his or her overly youthful portrayals and on-the-nose storylines. However the recreation had its higher moments — the few appearances of Solas had been at all times fascinating, whereas its Mass Impact-inspired ultimate sequence acted as a worthwhile capstone on the franchise’s story thus far.
No matter occurs with Dragon Age subsequent, the collection has successfully concluded the most important plotpoints left hanging from the franchise thus far, and there is a sense it will not return till after an extended relaxation. Certainly, The Veilguard senior author Sheryl Chee, who was moved from BioWare to work on Iron Man at Motive, mentioned final yr that “DA is not useless as a result of it is yours now” — dwelling on merely by way of fan fiction and art work.
Might Dragon Age return? “From Digital Arts? Unlikely,” Gaider concluded. “All through the complete time I used to be there, we had been at all times one breath away from the undertaking being shelved. The factor that occurred is that we saved releasing video games, and it might promote significantly better than they thought it ought to, and it saved shocking them.”
Alas, with The Veilguard, that was not the case. EA has solely acknowledged that the sport reached 1.5 million gamers throughout its first three months on sale, half of the writer’s expectations. By comparability, Dragon Age: Inquisition was BioWare’s best-selling recreation ever, shifting 12 million models.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You possibly can attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky (*5*)