Following layoffs at BioWare that saw the exit of many key developers of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, one former writer on the series has moved to reassure fans by saying, "DA isn't dead because it's yours now."
This week, EA restructured BioWare to focus solely on Mass Effect 5. Some who worked on Dragon Age: The Veilguard were moved to projects at other EA studios. For instance, John Epler, Veilguard's creative director, was reassigned to work on Full Circle's upcoming skateboarding game, Skate. Others, however, revealed they were laid off and are now seeking new employment opportunities.
The decision followed EA's announcement that Dragon Age: The Veilguard had underperformed on its expectations for the long-awaited action RPG. EA reported that Dragon Age "engaged" 1.5 million players during its recent financial quarter, which fell nearly 50% short of the company's projections. It's important to note that EA did not specify whether the 1.5 million figure represented unit sales, as Dragon Age: The Veilguard was also available through EA's Play Pro subscription service. Additionally, it's unclear if this number included those who tried the game through the more affordable EA Play subscription's free trial.
EA's announcement, its restructuring of BioWare, and confirmation of layoffs have collectively created a sense among the Dragon Age fandom that the series might be nearing its end. There are no plans for DLC for The Veilguard, and BioWare's work on the game concluded last week with what appeared to be its final major update.
However, Dragon Age: The Veilguard senior writer Sheryl Chee, who was transferred from BioWare to work on Iron Man at Motive, took to social media to offer words of hope. "I'm now with Motive," Chee began. "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 who lamented the death of Dragon Age, Chee replied with an inspiring message about the series' future. "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…
"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."
Chee further elaborated, "So someone just reposted my thing saying they'll write a giant AU and that's what I'm talking about. 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."
Dragon Age began with the release of Dragon Age: Origins in 2010, followed by Dragon Age 2 in 2011, and Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014. The latest installment, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, took a decade to be released. In September, former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah, who left BioWare in 2020, disclosed that Dragon Age Inquisition had sold over 12 million copies, significantly exceeding EA's internal projections.
While EA has not explicitly declared Dragon Age to be dead, the future of the series appears uncertain given BioWare's current focus on Mass Effect 5. As for Mass Effect, EA confirmed that a "core team" at BioWare is developing the next installment under the guidance of veterans from the original trilogy, including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others. "While we're not sharing numbers, the studio has the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development," EA told IGN.
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