Dragon Age Not Dead, Says Ex-BioWare Dev: 'It's Yours Now'

In the wake of significant layoffs at BioWare, which saw many key developers of Dragon Age: The Veilguard leave the company, a former writer from the series has stepped forward to reassure fans. Sheryl Chee, who transitioned from BioWare to work on Iron Man at Motive, emphasized that despite the recent setbacks, "Dragon Age isn't dead because it's yours now."

This week, EA announced a restructuring at BioWare to shift its focus solely to Mass Effect 5. As part of this restructuring, some developers who worked on Dragon Age: The Veilguard were reassigned to other EA projects. For instance, John Epler, the creative director for Veilguard, moved to Full Circle to work on the upcoming skateboarding game Skate. Unfortunately, not all were as fortunate, with several developers revealing their layoffs and seeking new employment opportunities.

The decision to restructure came after EA disclosed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard had not met its performance expectations. The game reportedly engaged 1.5 million players in the recent financial quarter, falling short by nearly 50% of what EA had projected. It's important to note that EA did not specify whether this number represented unit sales, as Veilguard was also accessible via EA's Play Pro subscription service. Additionally, it remains unclear if the 1.5 million figure includes users of the free trial available through the more affordable EA Play subscription.

The combination of EA's announcement, the restructuring at BioWare, and the layoffs has led to a widespread belief among the Dragon Age community that the franchise may be nearing its end. With no planned DLC for The Veilguard and BioWare concluding its work on the game last week with its final major update, the future of the series seems uncertain.

Despite these challenges, Chee took to social media to offer a message of hope. Reflecting on her transition to Motive, she said, "It's been a hard two years seeing my team get chipped away and having to still keep going. But I'm still employed, so there's that." In response to a fan expressing sorrow over the perceived death of Dragon Age, Chee shared an inspiring perspective: "So a cool French woman dropped a cool quote from Camus on me today: ‘In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.’ (I mean, who does resistance like the French, right?) We're going through it right now. It's a lot, everywhere…"

Chee continued, "But DA isn't dead. There's fic. There's art. There's the connections we made through the games and because of the games. Technically EA/BioWare owns the IP but you can't own an idea, no matter how much they want to. DA isn't dead because it's yours now." She further reinforced her sentiment by celebrating a fan's plan to write an alternate universe story, noting, "If DA has inspired you to do something, if it sparks that Invincible summer, then it's done its job, and it has been my greatest honor to have been a part of that."

The Dragon Age series began with Dragon Age: Origins in 2010, followed by Dragon Age 2 in 2011 and Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014. It took a decade for the latest installment, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, to be released. In September, former executive producer Mark Darrah, who departed BioWare in 2020, disclosed that Dragon Age: Inquisition had sold over 12 million copies, significantly exceeding EA's internal projections.

While EA has not officially declared the Dragon Age series dead, the future seems uncertain given BioWare's full focus on Mass Effect 5. EA mentioned that a "core team" at BioWare, led by veterans from the original Mass Effect trilogy such as Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, and Parrish Ley, is currently developing the next Mass Effect game. EA assured IGN that "the studio has the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development."