Dragon Age Survives: Former BioWare Dev Reassures Fans

Following layoffs at BioWare impacting key Dragon Age: The Veilguard developers, a former writer offered reassurance to fans, stating, "DA isn't dead because it's yours now."

This week's EA restructuring prioritized Mass Effect 5, reassigning some Veilguard staff to other EA studios (Game Developer reported John Epler's transfer to Full Circle's Skate project). However, other layoffs were confirmed, leaving affected developers seeking new employment.

This followed EA's announcement of Dragon Age: The Veilguard's underperformance, citing only 1.5 million engaged players during the recent financial quarter—significantly below projections. Importantly, EA didn't specify if this figure represented unit sales or included EA Play Pro subscribers and free trial participants.

Regardless, the announcement, BioWare's restructuring, and confirmed layoffs fueled fan concerns about the Dragon Age franchise's future. With no planned DLC for The Veilguard and development concluding last week, the series appeared dormant.

However, Sheryl Chee, a former senior writer on Dragon Age: The Veilguard (now working on Iron Man at Motive), offered a message of hope on social media:

"It's been a hard two years...But DA isn't dead. There's fic. There's art. There's the connections we made...Technically EA/BioWare owns the IP but you can't own an idea...DA isn't dead because it's yours now." She emphasized fan contributions—fan fiction, art, and community engagement—as vital to the series' continued existence.

Dragon Age's history includes Dragon Age: Origins (2010), Dragon Age 2 (2011), and Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014). The Veilguard's release marked a decade-long gap. In contrast to The Veilguard's performance, Mark Darrah (former Dragon Age executive producer) revealed in September that Dragon Age: Inquisition sold over 12 million copies, exceeding EA's internal projections.

While EA hasn't declared Dragon Age defunct, the future of the franchise remains uncertain given BioWare's current focus on Mass Effect 5. EA confirmed a dedicated "core team" is developing Mass Effect 5, led by veterans from the original trilogy. They stated the team is appropriately sized for the current development stage.