BioWare's History: Can Dragon Age: The Veilguard Save the Studio?

BioWare is a studio whose contribution to the gaming industry is hard to overestimate. Founded in 1995 in Edmonton, Canada by Raymond Alexander Muzyka, Gregory Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip, BioWare quickly established itself as a developer of games with deep role-playing elements and gripping stories. However, in recent years, the studio has been unlucky. Having made several questionable decisions and lost almost its entire fan base, the BioWare of 2024 has one foot in the grave. The upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard should save the developers from oblivion, but very strange news and rumors appear around the game, which makes one doubt its success. In this article, we will follow the entire path of BioWare in the computer games industry, its fantastic rise and no less spectacular fall, and also analyze who is to blame for the fact that some of the most talented developers of our time are in such a difficult situation.

BioWare started out as a studio with ambitious plans to create complex role-playing games. The first truly successful project was Baldur's Gate (1998), which was built on the rules system of the tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons. The RPG combined role-playing elements with a deep storyline and freedom of choice, which brought it recognition from critics and players. Baldur's Gate became one of the most important hits of its time, for which it is often called one of the games that defined the genre. Then came the release of Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn (2000), which only consolidated the success and position of the studio.

A little time passed before the developers released another pillar of their greatness — Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003). In it, BioWare managed not only to embody the spirit of the Star Wars universe, but also to create a fascinating story with new characters and events that had not previously appeared in the films. The influence of the game was so enormous that the project is still one of the main hits for all fans of the distant galaxy.

However, the real success came in 2007, when the first part of the Mass Effect trilogy was released, which became a landmark for the studio. The sci-fi setting was combined with complex moral choices, an evolving plot and developed characters. Until then, no one had done anything like this. The game took the best from such small screen giants as Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5, which was a real revelation for gamers.

The Mass Effect trilogy and especially the second part made BioWare one of the leading studios in the world market. After that, no one doubted that the developers would cope with almost any task. The credit of trust was incredibly high, and each new game was expected as an event of global scale.

An important feature of the campaign was the lack of fixation on old settings. The developers weren't afraid to experiment and launch completely new stories, rather than milking what had already brought in money. This is how Dragon Age: Origins (2009) was born — another project that brought the studio to the peak of success. In this game, BioWare was able to once again show its unique style, creating a dark fantasy world full of political intrigue, magic, and large-scale battles. The game quickly became one of the best modern RPGs. And although there were questions about many individual elements, overall it was a project that left a huge number of different emotions after playing. It was memorable and had its own «face».

A turning point in BioWare's fate was its acquisition by EA in 2007. This event opened up new opportunities for the studio, including access to greater resources and technologies.

However, over time, pitfalls emerged. EA, being one of the largest companies in the gaming industry, gradually began to influence BioWare's internal policy, promoting the games-as-services model focused on long-term monetization through microtransactions, as well as pushing the development of already successful titles.

The first warning signs came in Dragon Age 2 (2011), which turned out to be much weaker than the first part in almost everything. Instead of a large world and a well-developed role-playing system, players were offered only one city, most of the quests in which did not affect what was happening at all. The build and dialogue system were also simplified, and the RPG itself turned into a strange thing, combining the remnants of the former combat system and an extremely flawed action. A little later, information leaked that the released game was originally just a large DLC and was not considered a full-fledged numbered part at all, but EA's harsh pressure did not allow the developers to bring the project to mind. The result was, to put it mildly, controversial.

The trend continued in Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014). The third part fixed many of the problems of the second, but acquired a bunch of new ones. It seemed that the game was sharpened for MMO with all the consequences — the same type of quests, the collection of endless resources and extremely «stuffy» gameplay. At the same time, there were few dialogue forks left. The famous «circle» of choice from Mass Effect turned from an interesting feature into a real curse of role-playing games, where all the answers were conditionally divided into several moods, but little changed in essence.

However, a real failure had to wait a little longer. The apotheosis of EA's influence was Anthem (2019). For several years after the acquisition by EA, BioWare tried to maintain a focus on single-player RPGs, but pressure from the publisher eventually won out. Priorities and approach to development changed. Games with a focus on single-player narratives became less profitable, which was fundamentally unsatisfactory for EA, which sought to monetize every element of its own projects. Anthem in absentia received the title of that very «cash cow», which fully corresponded to the publisher's goals, but fundamentally contradicted everything that the developers were striving for.

Anthem was supposed to be the flagship of BioWare and EA's new strategy of creating games-as-services. EA saw the potential in multiplayer projects with RPG elements that could be supported for years through constant content updates and sales of in-game items.

Initial expectations were high, and the game was advertised as a «killer of Destiny» — another popular multiplayer shooter with RPG elements. However, in practice, Anthem turned out to be one of the most high-profile failures in the history of video games. From the very beginning of development, the project suffered from a lack of a clear vision of what the final result should be. Initially, the studio wanted to make something similar to Mass Effect, but in the format of a multiplayer game. However, during the development, the goals and objectives changed several times (including at the instigation of EA), which led to constant rework and delays.

One of the key factors that complicated the development was the Frostbite engine, which was imposed on the studio by the same EA. Frostbite, developed by DICE for the Battlefield series of shooters, was ill-suited for creating open-world RPGs. BioWare faced numerous technical problems adapting the engine to the needs of their project. The team was unable to resolve these issues in time, which ultimately led to the release of a very weak product from a technical point of view.

When Anthem was released in February 2019, it was plagued by bugs, a lack of content, and repetitive gameplay. Players and critics alike noted that the game felt unfinished and simply unfinished. The widespread negative response led to the studio announcing plans to rework the game, but the project was subsequently shelved.

Anthem's failure became a symbol of the deep-seated problems with management and internal processes at BioWare. The game's development demonstrated almost all the well-known shortcomings that had been growing for years due to the publisher's heavy-handed influence: a lack of specialized personnel, disunity between the development team and the studio's management, constant rework, and a lack of a unified vision for the project. All this led to Anthem being unviable in the long term.

Such a failure could not help but affect the studio, which was ultimately blamed for the failure. It was later that various interviews and investigations came out, revealing facts from internal processes. For example, it became known that the developers could have little influence on anything and were almost entirely dependent on the publisher's chaotic edits. But at that moment, BioWare almost immediately found itself in a deep crisis.

Staffing shortage became another of the most important problems. After the departure of Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk in 2012, the studio lost its key leaders and visionaries. They were replaced by Aaryn Flynn, who led the development of Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. However, Flynn's management was marred by internal conflicts and pressure from EA. As a result, in 2017, after the failure of Mass Effect: Andromeda, which is now not remembered in polite society, on the eve of the release of Anthem, he left the studio, giving way to Casey Hudson, the man responsible for the success of Mass Effect. Hudson's return became the hope for the studio's revival. However, the problems with Anthem showed that even an experienced leader cannot always cope with internal difficulties. In 2020, Hudson left the studio again, leaving it in an even more difficult situation. He was replaced by Gary McKay, who promised to return to the roots and focus on single-player games. However, he was not the last to leave the studio.

The departure of key figures and constant changes in management led to significant personnel losses. In 2023 and 2024, BioWare carried out several waves of layoffs, which negatively affected the remaining projects. This exacerbated the problems with the development of new parts of Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and also raised concerns in the community about the studio's ability to release quality products.

Despite numerous failures, BioWare has still managed to achieve some success in recent years. In 2021, the studio released Mass Effect Legendary Edition — a remaster of the original Mass Effect trilogy. This edition was warmly received by both critics and players, which gave the studio hope for a revival. Many fans appreciated the improved graphics and optimized gameplay, which allowed them to relive one of the most beloved stories in the gaming industry.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition showed that the audience is still interested in single-player RPGs with a strong story and developed characters. This, and the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, signaled to EA that single-player games can be financially successful if they are done well.

After an excellent remaster of the original trilogy, BioWare announced the development of a new part of the Mass Effect series. There are few details about it yet, but the development team emphasizes that it intends to take into account all the lessons of the past and create a game that will return Mass Effect to its previous level. However, it may not come to that if the studio's next release fails again.

BioWare's only major project to date is Dragon Age: The Veilguard (formerly Dragon Age: Dreadwolf), a new entry in the popular series that is set to release on October 31, 2024. Development on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf began shortly after the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014, but it too has faced a host of issues. The game was originally planned as a multiplayer game with game-as-a-service elements, which reflected EA's strategy. However, after the failure of Anthem and the commercial success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the publisher decided to adjust course. The studio was allowed to return to a traditional single-player RPG and was given the time it needed to polish it. This led to significant changes in the game's vision, delays in release, and even a change in the official name.

However, there are still plenty of reasons for concern. BioWare simply doesn't have any serious visionaries left who took part in the creation of Dragon Age: Origins, and therefore newcomers will be responsible for the «revival of BioWar». The problem is that these same «modern developers» often strive not to create high-quality projects, but to use games as a platform for broadcasting their own views on certain circumstances of real life.

The second problem is the audience. We would venture to express the opinion that the Dragon Age series is one of those franchises where the fan base is extremely clearly defined, has very conservative ideas about what they want to see in a new game and is categorically against serious deviations from the beloved concept. This is easy to understand from the general mood of various YouTubers, as well as fans, speaking about the new product.

At the same time, the current developers seem to be extremely poorly aware that they are expected to make the most classic fourth part. For example, former lead screenwriter David Gaider published a post on September 24, 2024, in one of the social networks, in which he wrote that «wook culture» has always been central to the series and is characteristic of it, and everyone who denies this is «fucking tourists.» Here it is necessary to clarify that David is one of the studio's old-timers and a literate man, so such statements from him are a surprise.

We do not know why the scriptwriter became a former one, and it is not so important. The main thing is the idea that the man expressed. Since we have played all the parts of Dragon Age, we have a good idea of ​​the main themes of the series. There was discrimination, difficult moral choices, human tragedies, underhanded intrigues and, of course, a certain level of «wouknotnosti», but the latter was never the central driving force of the stories. This is absolutely not the «wouk culture» that is actively promoted now. It is necessary to distinguish dark serious fantasy from the ubiquitous agenda, which does not carry any value for the plot, except to present the views of the developers.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is already a very expensive game. Given 10 years of development, EA spent a colossal amount, and therefore the project is required to be not just a success, but a serious achievement. However, the game's advertising campaign is more like an illustration in a textbook with the caption «what not to do if you want a lot of sales.» Less than a month remains until the release, this is the best time to saturate the information field with good news and neat «leaks» of interesting details. What do we get? News that the main character can be left with scars from the removal of the mammary glands, as well as a leak of a large interview with one of the testers who tried the build of the end of 2023.

The anonymous author shared many details that only add reasons for concern. For example, that the game constantly abuses fashionable non-binary pronouns, and the qunari companion disrupts the narrative with the modern phrase «I identify as a non-binary person.» The facial animations are supposedly on par with Mass Effect: Andromeda. We wouldn't take this seriously, since it's easy to improve the technical aspects over time. But the overall disappointing plot and the shocking (in a bad sense) ending can't be fixed in the final stages of development. There's reason to believe that the main essence of Dragon Age — the story — will be at a sad level.

The main character Rook and Solas, the ancient elf who was supposed to be the driving force behind the events, turn out to be practically useless and insignificant upon inspection, and the possibilities for developing a romantic relationship directly depend on which pronoun you choose when creating a character. Only two options for the traditional she/he and many more in other cases. That is, if you want more freedom, you will have to accept the rules that the developers considered the only correct ones.

In conclusion, the anonymous author said that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is so far from Dragon Age: Origins that it is hard to believe that these two games are in the same universe. All the familiar characters that regularly appear in trailers are relegated to the background, but the most interesting thing is that all this feedback was voiced to the management, to which they responded that they cannot openly tell the developers about all the existing agenda problems, as they are afraid of conflict and publicity of their «intolerance».

Of course, all this is at the level of rumors that have not yet been confirmed by anything concrete. However, the fact that there is simply no other positive news is frightening. The gameplay videos look nice, and the combat system looks good, but let's be honest — Dragon Age has never been a game about cool, fast-paced gameplay, its merits are completely different.

It's funny that against this background, the main foreign publications that managed to play the pre-release version a little, are vying with each other to predict the triumphant return of «that very BioWare», although there is nothing left of it. In contrast, the opposite mood reigns on YouTube, which brings up some thoughts about EA's influence on official media.

As a result, the position of Dragon Age: The Veilguard — a game that should revive the studio from the ashes — is extremely precarious. Pre-orders are not impressive, and the news only causes hatred among old fans and anxiety. It may happen that the bet on the wook culture as the main core of the project will play a cruel joke on the developers. Instead of attracting a new audience, they will lose the last remnants of the old one, which was ready to forgive the game almost everything and buy it at any price, just to immerse themselves again in their favorite world and take part in a cool story.

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Looking back at BioWare and in the present, it's clear that the studio has been through a lot. The fact that it's still afloat is certainly commendable, but it's desperately lacking in hits. This is a rare case where the industry's premier RPG provider outlived a publisher focused on monetizing everything, held on until the course changed, and once again received funding for what it once did best. All that's required is to do it the same way, but in a new wrapper, no more and no less. Did BioWare pull it off? We'll find out very soon. But if not, EA can't be blamed. And then we'll probably never see a new Mass Effect.