Former BioWare Dev Reassures: 'Dragon Age Lives On Through Its Fans'

Following recent layoffs at BioWare, which saw the departure of many key developers behind Dragon Age: The Veilguard, former series writer Sheryl Chee has stepped forward to reassure fans. Amidst the turmoil, Chee, who has transitioned to work on Iron Man at Motive, shared a message of hope on social media: "DA isn't dead because it's yours now."

This week, EA announced a restructuring of BioWare to concentrate solely on Mass Effect 5. As a result, some developers from Dragon Age: The Veilguard were reassigned to other EA projects, such as John Epler, the game's creative director, who joined Full Circle to work on the upcoming skateboarding game Skate. However, others faced layoffs and are now seeking new opportunities.

The decision came after EA revealed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard had not met the company's expectations, engaging only 1.5 million players during the recent financial quarter—a figure nearly 50% below projections. It's important to note that EA did not specify whether this number represented unit sales, as the game was also available through EA's Play Pro subscription service. Additionally, it remains unclear if the 1.5 million count included players who tried the game via the free trial offered through the more affordable EA Play subscription.

The combination of EA's announcement, the restructuring of BioWare, and the layoffs has led to widespread concern among Dragon Age fans that the series may be nearing its end. There are no plans for DLC for The Veilguard, and BioWare's work on the game concluded with its last major update last week.

Despite these developments, Sheryl Chee remains optimistic. Reflecting on her challenging two years at BioWare, she expressed gratitude for still being employed and offered words of encouragement to fans. In response to a fan's lament about the series' demise, Chee emphasized the enduring legacy of Dragon Age through fan-created content such as fiction and art, and the connections formed through the games.

"Technically EA/BioWare owns the IP but you can't own an idea, no matter how much they want to," Chee stated. "DA isn't dead because it's yours now." She further encouraged fans to continue creating, citing a fan's plan to write an alternate universe story as an example of the series' ongoing influence.

The Dragon Age series began with 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 release. In September, former executive producer Mark Darrah disclosed that Dragon Age: Inquisition had sold over 12 million copies, significantly surpassing EA's internal projections.

While EA has not officially declared the end of Dragon Age, the future of the series appears uncertain given BioWare's current focus on Mass Effect 5. EA confirmed that a "core team" at BioWare, led by veterans from the original Mass Effect trilogy, is developing the next installment. "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.