Former Dragon Age Lead Writer Doubles Down: BioWare's Fantasy Series Unlikely to Return Under EA, But He Has Ideas for Dragon Age 5

David Gaider, the former lead writer on Dragon Age, believes the fantasy series is unlikely to make a comeback while EA owns BioWare—though he has a clear vision for what a fifth game could look like if given the chance.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched to mixed reviews in late 2024 after a long and troubled development. The fallout led to BioWare downsizing, with remaining staff focused on pre-production for the next Mass Effect, while many of The Veilguard's leadership were moved elsewhere within EA or let go.

With BioWare's sole focus now on Mass Effect, the odds of another Dragon Age game appear slim—especially before Mass Effect 5 arrives. (BioWare hasn't announced a release date, but IGN understands it's still likely a few years away.) Still, Gaider shared what he would do if the franchise somehow returned.

"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, leaving before The Veilguard entered full production. He also worked on 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 approach would certainly set it apart from The Veilguard, which faced criticism for its writing and characters, particularly those seen as overly youthful with on-the-nose storylines. However, the game had its highlights—Solas's appearances were always compelling, and its Mass Effect-inspired final sequence served as a fitting capstone to the franchise's story so far.

Whatever happens next, the series has effectively resolved its major plot threads, and there's a sense it won't return until after a long hiatus. Indeed, The Veilguard senior writer Sheryl Chee, who moved to Motive to work on Iron Man, said last year that "DA isn't dead because it's yours now"—living on through 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, that wasn't the case with The Veilguard. EA revealed the game reached 1.5 million players in its first three months, half of the publisher's expectations. By contrast, Dragon Age: Inquisition was BioWare's best-selling game ever, shifting 12 million units.