BioWare Dev Reassures: Dragon Age Lives On

Following recent BioWare layoffs impacting key Dragon Age: The Veilguard developers, a former writer has offered reassurance to fans, stating, "DA isn't dead because it's yours now."

This week's EA restructuring of BioWare prioritizes Mass Effect 5, resulting in some Veilguard team members transferring to other EA studios (Game Developer reported John Epler, Veilguard's creative director, joined Full Circle's Skate project), while others faced layoffs. This followed EA's announcement of Veilguard's underperformance, citing only 1.5 million players engaged during the recent financial quarter—significantly below projections (a nearly 50% shortfall). Importantly, EA didn't specify if this figure represents unit sales or includes EA Play and Play Pro subscriptions, potentially including free trial participants.

Regardless, the announcement, BioWare restructuring, and layoffs fueled fan concerns about the Dragon Age franchise's future. With no planned DLC for The Veilguard and development concluding last week, the series' fate seemed sealed.

However, Sheryl Chee, a senior writer on Dragon Age: The Veilguard who transitioned to Motive Studio's Iron Man project, offered a message of hope on social media. Acknowledging the challenging two years and team attrition, she emphasized the franchise's enduring legacy. Quoting Camus, she highlighted the power of fan creativity: "But DA isn't dead. There's fic. There's art. There's the connections we made through the games and because of the games. Technically EA/BioWare owns the IP but you can't own an idea, no matter how much they want to. DA isn't dead because it's yours now." She further emphasized that fan-created content, inspired by the series, proves its continued relevance.

The Dragon Age series, launched in 2010 with Dragon Age: Origins, followed by Dragon Age 2 (2011) and Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014), experienced a significant gap before The Veilguard's release. Interestingly, former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah revealed in September that Dragon Age: Inquisition sold over 12 million copies, exceeding EA's internal projections.

While EA hasn't declared Dragon Age defunct, the future of the franchise remains uncertain given BioWare's current focus on Mass Effect 5. EA assures that Mass Effect 5 development boasts a "core team" of experienced developers from the original trilogy, including prominent figures like Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley. However, EA's statement regarding sufficient staffing for Mass Effect doesn't address the long-term prospects of Dragon Age.