Former Dragon Age Lead Writer Says BioWare's Fantasy Series is Unlikely to Ever Return Under EA — Though He Knows What He'd Do With Dragon Age 5 if He Made It

Former Dragon Age pb writer David Gaider doesn't deliberation BioWare's phantasy bid volition instrumentality portion owned by steadfast EA — though knows what he'd bash if a 5th crippled was ever made.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched to mixed reviews successful precocious 2024 pursuing a agelong and rocky development. The resulting fallout saw BioWare downsized and its remaining unit tasked with pre-production connected the adjacent Mass Effect, portion overmuch of the enactment down The Veilguard were moved elsewhere wrong EA, oregon shown the door.

With BioWare's sole remit present Mass Effect, the chances of different Dragon Age look slim — with nary accidental astatine each earlier Mass Effect 5 arrives. (BioWare has made nary notation of erstwhile that volition happen, though IGN understands it is apt inactive a mates years away.) Still, what would Gaider bash if the franchise someway did return, and helium got different ace astatine it?

"I bash similar a challenge," Gaider told PC Gamer. "So if, retired of immoderate weird alignment of the stars, idiosyncratic handed the Dragon Age franchise backmost to maine and said, 'Breathe the beingness backmost into this baby', that'd beryllium a pugnacious one, but I deliberation that'd beryllium an absorbing happening to do.

A 20-year BioWare veteran, Gaider was pb writer connected the archetypal 3 Dragon Age games, departing earlier the last mentation of what would go Dragon Age: The Veilguard went into afloat production. His vocation has besides seen him constitute for Neverwinter Nights, respective Baldur's Gate 2 expansions, and the ill-fated Anthem.

"[I'd] spell backmost to the basics of what made Dragon Age entreaty to truthful galore radical successful the archetypal place," Gaider continued. "And spell determination acheronian and dangerous, and bash things that volition marque radical upset. I deliberation that's what I would privation to bash with it."

That would surely differentiate the task from The Veilguard, which faced disapproval for its writing, and respective characters successful peculiar who drew ire for their overly youthful portrayals and on-the-nose storylines. But the crippled had its amended moments — the fewer appearances of Solas were ever interesting, portion its Mass Effect-inspired last series acted arsenic a worthwhile capstone connected the franchise's communicative to date.

Whatever happens with Dragon Age next, the bid has efficaciously concluded the large plotpoints near hanging from the franchise truthful far, and there's a consciousness it won't instrumentality until aft a agelong rest. Indeed, The Veilguard elder writer Sheryl Chee, who was moved from BioWare to enactment connected Iron Man astatine Motive, said past twelvemonth that "DA isn't dormant due to the fact that it's yours now" — surviving connected simply via instrumentality fabrication and artwork.

Could Dragon Age return? "From Electronic Arts? Unlikely," Gaider concluded. "Throughout the full clip I was there, we were ever 1 enactment distant from the task being shelved. The happening that happened is that we kept releasing games, and it would merchantability overmuch amended than they thought it should, and it kept astonishing them."

Alas, with The Veilguard, that was not the case. EA has lone stated that the crippled reached 1.5 cardinal players during its archetypal 3 months connected sale, fractional of the publisher's expectations. By comparison, Dragon Age: Inquisition was BioWare's best-selling crippled ever, shifting 12 cardinal units.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social