BioWare’s recent closure has raised several discussions, with some focusing on the shortcomings of the studio’s last major release – Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Veteran of the studio and creative director on Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, James Ohlen, has taken to social media to defend the development team that worked on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and even went as far as to say that the team was not responsible for some of the more unpopular aspects of the RPG.
“The majority of people on a team the size of Veilguard’s had little or no say in the things you disliked about it,” he said. “Right up to the end, BioWare still had many people who worked on the games you loved. I also have my own issues with modern entertainment, especially when political messaging gets in the way of good storytelling.”
Ohlen spoke about his own time at the studio while working on Dragon Age: Origins, and noted that he was “responsible for the Broodmothers” in that game, as well as the one who pushed for Zevran’s player romance option to be a same-sex one.
“My favorite character is Conan the Barbarian, and I love the art of Frank Frazetta, Brom, and Chris Achilleos.
“What I’m trying to say is that it’s possible to hold views that don’t fit neatly into anyone’s political camp, and to love and respect people you disagree with. People are complicated. That includes the people who make the games you love or hate.”
It is worth noting that Dragon Age: The Veilguard came out to positive reviews, with many critics finding themselves enjoying the title. However, the title caught quite a bit of criticism from players and long-time fans of the Dragon Age franchise. A report from last year shed some light on the development troubles that the title went through that might explain some of the issues it ultimately suffered from when it came out.
While Dragon Age: The Veilguard was originally envisioned as a single-player game, the project was pivoted into being a multiplayer live-service title before facing another pivot back to being a single-player game with an emphasis on narrative. The first pivot came from EA executives wanting to emulate the success of other live-service games of the time like Overwatch and Destiny, and BioWare ultimately tried its hand at the genre with Anthem to little success.
The decision to make The Veilguard a single-player game again came about in 2020. However, this pivot came with one major caveat: rather than giving the team the time to figure out how the title would shape up by going back into pre-production, EA instead wanted the studio to make the changes on the fly without resetting development. This ultimately led to several issues being brought up by QA teams at the time.
Former lead writer David Gaider has also spoken about how EA had a preference for the Mass Effect franchise over Dragon Age. “It always seemed that, when the Mass Effect team made its demands in meetings with EA regarding the resources it needed, it got its way,” said Gaider. “But Dragon Age always had to fight against headwinds.”
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details.
