David Gaider: EA Never Understood Dragon Age and Effectively Killed the Franchise

David Gaider, former lead writer at BioWare and the creator of the world of Thedas, believes Dragon Age has no future as long as Electronic Arts controls the franchise. According to him, the publisher failed to understand the series for decades and treated every project as if it could be shut down at any moment.

Gaider says that his entire time working on Dragon Age was overshadowed by a constant sense of threat. He recalls that the team always felt "one step away" from having the series canceled, and that each game's success surprised EA more than it did BioWare itself. According to him, the publisher often chalked the series' results up to luck and coincidence.

Gaider also took aim at how EA understood the very essence of Dragon Age. He claims the first trailer for Dragon Age: Origins was made to look like a provocative teen-oriented clip, complete with Marilyn Manson music and blood, even though the series was conceived as a mature fantasy RPG. Leadership, he says, saw Mass Effect as a modern, "marketable" action-RPG, while viewing Dragon Age as an old-fashioned, story-driven RPG.

Things weren't any better when it came to the combat system, according to Gaider. He recalls that Dragon Age: Origins was called too slow and clunky, while the second game was criticized as too fast. In the end, the former writer claims, the publisher never figured out what to actually do with the series — even though Dragon Age: Inquisition exceeded EA's sales expectations and became BioWare's most successful game.

Gaider also mentioned that EA once appointed a head of marketing who explained the team's promotional strategy through the idea of "putting lipstick on a pig." The writer does admit he might return to Dragon Age someday — but only if EA has absolutely nothing to do with the project.

What do you think the future holds for Dragon Age after comments like these from Gaider?