Summary

  • Dragon Age: The Veilguard is perhaps one of the most tragic games of the last few years, and seems to have put the series on ice.
  • Some think that if series veterans like David Gaider had still been at BioWare, it might have been a different story.
  • That hypothetical world seems impossible, though, as Gaider admits that EA's live-service plans for the series would have been the end for him, even if he had stuck around a bit longer.

Dragon Age veteran David Gaider has recently claimed that, if he hadn't left BioWare back in 2016 during Anthem's development, EA's live-service plans for Dragon Age and the departure of Mike Laidlaw would have caused him to quit.

Although Dragon Age seems to have met an untimely and cruel end following the mixed reception to last year's The Veilguard, there was a time when the series was one of EA and BioWare's crown jewels. The days of Dragon Age: Origins, DA2, and The Inquisition were partly such a big success due to lead writer David Gaider, who has remained vocal about the series in the years since.

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Despite his massive impact on the series, Gaider unfortunately parted ways with both BioWare and Dragon Age all the way back in 2016 during Anthem's development. Even though Gaider hasn't been involved with the series for a long time, it seems like he wouldn't have had the chance to make an impact on The Veilguard if he had stuck around past Anthem's release.

Even If He Hadn't Left BioWare Due To Anthem, Dragon Age's Lead Writer Wouldn't Have Stuck Around For The Veilguard

EA's Live-Service Plans Would Have Been Too Much To Bear

Earlier today, GamesRadar+ shared an interview with Gaider where the Dragon Age veteran admits that he would have stayed at BioWare for longer if he hadn't moved over to Anthem during its development. While Gaider being involved in Dragon Age sounds like a blessing, he also noted that he wouldn't have been around for The Veilguard's development.

In this hypothetical world where Gaider didn't leave BioWare, he would have been working on Morrison, the well-documented Dragon Age live-service game that BioWare had in the works after Joplin was rebooted and before The Veilguard was a thing. Gaider notes that he would have had "no influence on that sequence of events" and that the departure of Mike Laidlaw would have been a big reason for him to leave.

I would not have survived the end of Joplin, because the end of Joplin would have been 'now we're making this live service Dragon Age'. - David Gaider

Gaider then notes that he probably wouldn't have even stuck around through Morrison's development, as the cancellation of Joplin would have been too much for him. Going from a single-player project to a live-service multiplayer one like Morrison would have caused Gaider to simply say "see ya", since that's a direction he didn't want the series to go in.

Overall, it sounds like no matter what happened with Anthem, Gaider's time with BioWare and Dragon Age would have come to an end long before The Veilguard was in development. Sadly, that means that no matter how much you might hope that Gaider could have saved the project, it seems like it was never meant to be.

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard

RPG Systems 4.0/5 56 6.0/10 Released October 31, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
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