Cliff Notes – EA refused to let BioWare make a Dragon Age: Origins remake, claims developer
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EA’s decision to not fund a remake or remaster of Dragon Age: Origins stems from the poor performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which failed to meet expectations due to a lack of marketing and buzz.
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BioWare’s proposal for a remake was rejected by EA, citing the challenges of reworking the original game, which was built on a proprietary engine, unlike the more easily remastered Mass Effect series.
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The future of the Dragon Age franchise now hinges on the success of the upcoming Mass Effect title, as EA’s reluctance to invest in Dragon Age continues to dampen prospects for the series.
EA refused to let BioWare make a Dragon Age: Origins remake, claims developer
Dragon Age: Origins – EA didn’t want to pay for a makeover (EA)
The failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard has put EA off from making any more entries in the series, including a remaster of the original.
There’s little point in us saying that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a really good action role-player, because its fate was sealed just weeks after release, when it failed to meet EA’s expectations, following a disastrous marketing campaign.
Despite being the first new entry in the series for a decade, there was no buzz at all around the game, from the moment it was first unveiled – with a trailer that many fans compared to Fortnite in terms of its visuals and sense of humour.
Needless to say, that’s not how anyone imagined the game’s long-awaited comeback, with its failure leading EA to think it had been right all along and that the game should’ve been a live service title. What they’ve also apparently decided is that there’s not going to be any remaster or remake of Dragon Age: Origins from 2009.
It’s often forgotten now, but BioWare were the creators of the first two Baldur’s Gate games and Origins was, at the time, considered a spiritual sequel, and the closest thing there’d be to a Baldur’s Gate 3 until this generation.
In 2021, BioWare produced remasters of the entire Mass Effect trilogy, despite the sci-fi series always having sold less than Dragon Age, and it seemed to do very well.
The success of Mass Effect Legendary Edition led many, including developers at BioWare, to imagine something similar could happen with Dragon Age, despite no one liking Dragon Age 2.
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Unfortunately though, Mark Darrah, who was executive producer on the first three Dragon Age games, has revealed that while BioWare did pitch the idea of a remake to EA, they were refused the budget necessary, for that or a remaster.
Darrah left BioWare in 2021, long before The Veilguard was released, but while speaking to YouTuber MrMattyPlays, he said that Mass Effect Legendary Edition was the first time in a long while that there was ‘positivity and optimism around BioWare and their games.’
He explains how, for unknown reasons, EA doesn’t usually like remasters and because Dragon Age was made with its own propriety engine – unlike Mass Effect, which was made in Unreal Engine – it would be a considerably more difficult game to rework. Especially as the sequel used another completely different engine.
That ruled out a trilogy remaster, but BioWare’s plan was to find a fan mod team that could create a remake of Origins from scratch. However, that needed more money than EA was prepared to give, and it never happened.
Ironically, the only hope for Dragon Age now is that the next Mass Effect, which BioWare has been working on for years, is a massive hit and somehow rejuvenates interest in its sister series.
However, if it’s received the same way Dragon Age: The Veilguard was, then things could be looking very grim for the veteran role-playing developer…
The graphics hold up pretty well for such an old game (EA)
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