Dragon Age seems to have reached the tip of the highway, not less than for now. Despite the largely constructive reception, gross sales of Dragon Age: The Veilguard did not meet C-suite expectations, the sport’s most up-to-date replace seems to be its final, and builders at BioWare have been scattered to the 4 winds because the studio focuses completely on early work on the subsequent Mass Effect recreation. But former BioWare senior author Sheryl Chee lately took to Bluesky to reassure followers that Dragon Age is not actually lifeless, “as a result of it is yours now.”
“A cool French girl dropped a cool quote from Camus on me right this moment: ‘In the midst of winter, I discovered there was, inside me, an invincible summer time. (I imply, who does resistance just like the French, proper?),” Chee, whose writing credit on Dragon Age go all the way in which again to Origins, wrote on Bluesky in response to a consumer mourning the demise of Dragon Age. “We’re going via it proper now. It’s rather a lot, all over the place.
“But DA is not lifeless. There’s fic. There’s artwork. There’s the connections we made via the video games and due to the video games. Technically EA/BioWare owns the IP however you may’t personal an concept, regardless of how a lot they wish to. DA is not lifeless as a result of it is yours now.”
In a subsequent put up, Chee wrote, “So somebody simply reposted my factor saying they will write a large AU [alternate universe] and that is what I’m speaking about. If DA has impressed you to do one thing, if it sparks that Invincible summer time, then it is carried out its job, and it has been my best honor to have been part of that.”
Chee’s phrases are heartening, however they arrive amidst a time of actual turmoil at BioWare, which noticed a good portion of its employees moved to different EA studios—Chee herself is now at EA Motive—or laid off outright. EA appears to have misplaced religion in Dragon Age as a moneymaker of appropriate scale, and whereas fanfiction is at all times on the desk, it is actually not a substitute for the work of veteran RPG builders backed by a well-funded studio. Which I do not say to solid a fair larger pall over issues, however simply to mirror the fact: Deeply dedicated followers of the Dragon Age universe can proceed to run with it as they see match, however individuals who simply wish to play Dragon Age videogames have much less to look ahead to.
The speedy way forward for Dragon Age is unquestionably gloomy however EA has made no formal pronouncements of its demise at this level, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard wasn’t a flop. It was met with good critiques, holds a “principally constructive” ranking on Steam—not spectacular, however removed from catastrophic—and “engaged” roughly 1.5 million gamers. Its principal failing appears to be that it did not meet an arbitrary gross sales quantity put up by EA executives.
That’s not nice, notably on condition that the earlier recreation within the collection, Dragon Age: Inquisition, “rapidly grew to become essentially the most profitable launch in BioWare historical past” when it got here out in 2015, and I do not anticipate we’ll be listening to information about huge plans for the way forward for Dragon Age anytime quickly. But I feel Dragon Age followers can take coronary heart from the data that videogames are very very like superheroes: They change, they fall out of sight typically, however they by no means actually die.
