Summary

  • After years of issues behind the scenes, it now seems that every writer who has worked on a Dragon Age game has left BioWare.
  • The final blow came in the form of layoffs and restructuring earlier this week.
  • Both of the directors of Dragon Age: The Veilguard have left too.

In recent years, it's been noted that so many of the developers behind the original Mass Effect and Dragon Age games are no longer with the studio, having left in the 2010s. However, just three months after its launch, the same is now true of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, as both of the directors, all of the writers, and seemingly all the editors have now either left, been laid off, or moved to another EA studio.

This has come about through a combination of devs leaving during development, being caught up in the 2023 layoffs, departing after The Veilguard's launch, and most recently, being included in BioWare's restructuring. As a result, it seems that no one who worked on The Veilguard's story is at the company, making the same thing true for previous games, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Origins.

There Are No Writers From Any Of The Dragon Age Games At BioWare Right Now

Everyone has either been moved to another studio or has left BioWare entirely

Looking back at Origins' credits, there was only one writer remaining before the recent developments: Sheryl Chee. However, they have now been moved to EA Motive, working on the new Iron Man game. They recently commented that Dragon Age belongs to the fans now, so it certainly seems that the series as we knew it is over. Other Origins writers, Mary Kirby and Luke Kristjanson, did work on The Veilguard, but were laid off in 2023.

It's just as bleak when you only focus on The Veilguard. Game director Corinne Busche left ahead of all of these developments, moving on to a new project. Creative director Jojn Epler has not commented on the news publicly, but LinkedIn does show that he's now at Full Circle, which is working on the new Skate game.

As for the writers, most of them are gone for good. As previously mentioned, Chee is now at Motive, and it seems that they were joined by Brianne Battye. Sylvia Feketekuty left just after The Veilguard's launch. Lead writer, Trick Weekes, revealed that they are looking for new work earlier this week. The rest either left or were forced out during development.

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It also seems that most of the editors are gone too. Karin Weekes-West and Ryan Cormier have both revealed that they are looking for work, and Ben Gelinas appears to have left during development. Cameron Harris is also listed as an editor, although it could not be found whether or not they were included in the restructuring.

Despite such a significant shake-up, BioWare is continuing to work on Mass Effect 5. A small team has already been appointed to the project. However, the latest reporting indicates that those who were moved to other studios might not necessarily be brought back for Mass Effect once it's ready for a bigger team.

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard

RPG Systems 4.0/5 57 6.0/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 80/100 Critics Rec: 71% Released October 31, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Engine Frostbite
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