Ex-Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider: franchise unlikely to return under EA

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Former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider doesn't think BioWare's fantasy series will return while owned by publisher EA — though knows what he'd do if a fifth game was ever made.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched to mixed reviews in late 2024 following a long and rocky development . The resulting fallout saw BioWare downsized and its remaining staff tasked with pre-production on the next Mass Effect, while much of the leadership behind The Veilguard were moved elsewhere within EA, or shown the door .

With BioWare's sole remit now Mass Effect, the chances of another Dragon Age seem slim — with no chance at all before Mass Effect 5 arrives. (BioWare has made no mention of when that will happen, though IGN understands it is likely still a couple years away.) Still, what would Gaider do if the franchise somehow did return, and he got another crack at it?

"I do like a challenge," Gaider told PC Gamer . "So if, out of some weird alignment of the stars, somebody handed the Dragon Age franchise back to me and said, 'Breathe the life back into this baby', that'd be a tough one, but I think that'd be an interesting thing to do.

A 20-year BioWare veteran, Gaider was lead writer on the first three Dragon Age games, departing before the final version of what would become Dragon Age: The Veilguard went into full production. His career has also seen him write for Neverwinter Nights, several Baldur's Gate 2 expansions, and the ill-fated Anthem.

"[I'd] go back to the basics of what made Dragon Age appeal to so many people in the first place," Gaider continued. "And go somewhere dark and dangerous, and do things that will make people upset. I think that's what I would want to do with it."

That would certainly differentiate the project from The Veilguard, which faced criticism for its writing, and several characters in particular who drew ire for their overly youthful portrayals and on-the-nose storylines. But the game had its better moments — the few appearances of Solas were always interesting, while its Mass Effect-inspired final sequence acted as a worthwhile capstone on the franchise's story to date.

Whatever happens with Dragon Age next, the series has effectively concluded the major plotpoints left hanging from the franchise so far, and there's a sense it won't return until after a long rest. Indeed, The Veilguard senior writer Sheryl Chee, who was moved from BioWare to work on Iron Man at Motive, said last year that "DA isn't dead because it's yours now" — living on simply via fan fiction and artwork .

Could Dragon Age return? "From Electronic Arts? Unlikely," Gaider concluded. "Throughout the entire time I was there, we were always one breath away from the project being shelved. The thing that happened is that we kept releasing games, and it would sell much better than they thought it should, and it kept surprising them."

Alas, with The Veilguard, that was not the case. EA has only stated that the game reached 1.5 million players during its first three months on sale, half of the publisher's expectations. By comparison, Dragon Age: Inquisition was BioWare's best-selling game ever, shifting 12 million units.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social