“The Nerds Were In The Cave”: Dragon Age Lead Suggests EA Didn't Think Highly Of Traditional RPG Fans

Summary

• In a new interview, ex-Dragon Age and BioWare employee David Gaider shared just how little EA thought of its core audience.
• Apparently, traditional RPG fans were referred to as "nerds" with traditional RPG mechanics known as being "in the cave."
• Instead, EA wanted to appeal to a bigger audience, specifically because the traditional fans would show up either way.

The year 2025 has not been kind to BioWare. Because after The Veilguard "underperformed" by EA's own standards, the studio was forced to restructure, with a portion of employees focusing on the next Mass Effect title. That restructuring, of course, led to layoffs of key devs behind the studio's biggest hits, eventually pushing the group to a headcount of reportedly fewer than 100.

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At the center of much of this chaos has been ex-writer David Gaider, who, despite not being involved with the studio or franchises, has remained a vocal supporter of them, as well as a critic of EA's own involvement in its demise. Speaking of EA, in a new interview, Gaider has revealed just how little the company thought of its traditional RPG fans.

There's Nothing Wrong With Being A Nerd, EA

In speaking with GamesRadar+, Gaider revealed that EA believed that the mechanics that made the original Dragon Age so popular were seen as "slow and cumbersome," a direction that the company seemingly wanted to do less with.

Not only that, but the company also reportedly believed that traditional RPG fans were not worth focusing on, apparently referring to them as "nerds" in "a cave." Per Gaider, the proverbial "cave" was "where nerds went," and where those traditional mechanics lived.

"The nerds were in the cave," Gaider said. "You made an RPG and the nerds in the cave would always show up for an RPG, because it was an RPG."

Because these "nerds" would show up for whatever BioWare put out, it was imperative that the studio focus on a larger audience. "You had to worry about the people who weren't in the cave, which was the audience we actually wanted, which was much larger," he added.

In the end, that approach didn't work out either, leaving BioWare in shambles. Perhaps the nerds were right all along in what they truly wanted, cave and all.

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