David Gaider, the former Dragon Age games narrative lead before leaving BioWare in 2016, said that the writers on the Canadian development team had become “quietly upset” by their constant undervaluation.
Gaider posted a series of tweets as film and TV writers went on strike yesterday, demanding better pay structures and better working conditions from Hollywood studios. Speaking of writing extensively, Gaider said it’s a situation seen among those trying to get into the video game industry as well. .
“Even BioWare, which had built its success and reputation on good stories and characters, slowly morphed from a company that valued its writers to one in which we were… quietly discontented, with a reliance on expensive narrative seen as holding the company back.”
Maybe that sounds like a heavy charge, but it’s what I distinctly felt up to until I left in 2016. Suddenly everyone in charge was asking was “how do we have LESS writing?” A good story would simply happen, via magic wand, rather than something that needed support and priority.
— David Gaider (@davidgaider) May 3, 2023
Gaider worked with BioWare for 17 years before leaving, and can be considered the most important writer on the course of the Dragon Age series, having served as lead writer on Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II, and Dragon Age: Inquisition, and is credited with creating the world in which it is set. The series of games otherwise known as Thedas.
The next game in the series is Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, which has not yet received an official release date.
