The Creator of Dragon Age Knows What the Series' Comeback Should Look Like — Dark, Dangerous, and Willing to Upset Players

While Dragon Age fans are still nursing their wounds after the lukewarm reception of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the father of the entire franchise has shared his vision of what a real revival would look like. David Gaider — the man who created the world of Thedas and spent years running the writing on the series at BioWare — said in a recent interview that under the right circumstances, he wouldn't be opposed to returning to his creation. And his views on where to take the saga are quite clear-cut.

By his own admission, he would have brushed the idea off in the past — figuring he'd already put in his time on Dragon Age. But these days he feels differently, drawn in by the challenge itself. If the franchise were handed back to him with instructions to "breathe life into it," it wouldn't be an easy task, but a hell of an interesting one. As for where exactly he'd take the series, the writer put it bluntly: back to basics, into dark and dangerous territory, somewhere unafraid to hit hard and deliberately upset the player.

There's a specific idea behind that boldness. Gaider pointed out that the first game, Dragon Age: Origins, was praised above all for its deep, vivid, and tangible characters — and that, in his view, is exactly what the series should lean into going forward. Attempts to craft a sequel that's "acceptable to everyone," tailored to the average action fan, are a dead end in his opinion: if you make a game that isn't for people who actually love that kind of game, you end up pleasing no one.

Worth cooling expectations right away: all of this is pure hypothetical, not an announcement. Gaider doesn't own the rights to the series, nobody has offered him a comeback, and his comments are just musing in an "if the stars aligned" kind of way. Right now, all of the writer's energy is going toward a different project — a much lighter and more upbeat RPG about a crew of scoundrels aboard an airship. Even that isn't smooth sailing, though: Summerfall Studios still hasn't found a publisher to finance it, and the developer himself openly calls the situation make-or-break for its future.

The series' future, frankly, is murky right now — which gives Gaider's words a particular edge of bitterness. After Dragon Age: The Veilguard sold around 1.5 million copies and fell short of EA's expectations, BioWare effectively shelved the franchise, throwing all its resources behind the next Mass Effect. The revival itself came at a steep cost for the studio — BioWare went through a wave of layoffs and restructuring, shrinking to fewer than a hundred employees, with many veterans who had spent years on both legendary franchises leaving the company. There's currently no new Dragon Age in development, and the long-awaited Mass Effect is still in early stages with no release date — so Gaider's fantasy of a "dark and dangerous" comeback is, for now, running headfirst into the industry's harsh reality.

Does this vision resonate with you — a tough, uncompromising Dragon Age willing to hit hard, or would you rather see the series go softer and more accessible? And do you believe a return to its roots like this is even possible in today's cautious industry climate?