I hope you’re all having a great start to this new year, we’ve already got a few new updates to talk about regarding the development of the next Dragon Age game. So, let’s delve straight into this, starting with BioWare’s brand-new blog post by the studio’s General Manager, Gary Mckay.
2022 State of BioWare:
It’s been just over a year since Gary McKay took over as GM of BioWare since Casey Hudson’s departure, in this brand-new blog post, Gary shared about where BioWare are right now at the start of 2022, exploring some thoughts and plans for the future. I’m going to trim a lot of this article down, uncovering Gary’s overall message.
Gary started his article regarding the continued uncertainty of the pandemic and how it’s changed the studio’s process and working situation, despite that, BioWare continues to adapt to these ever-changing circumstances. On an incredibly exciting notion, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition had an incredible reception. The studio is so proud to have released one of the highest-rated games on console, and the reception really underscores the value of striving for excellence and quality in every element of a game.
Gary followed up with the challenges the studio have endured through the pandemic, the teams have adopted new tools, processes and ways to communicate, they’re balancing personal time and work, and each person is dealing with their own unique situation. The biggest challenge continues to be the uncertainty of it all, which makes everyone’s life more difficult and makes it hard to plan for the future.
In spite of those difficulties, the studio has come together, helping each other out, even in their personal lives. They’ve shown up for each other and pulled together as a team. The pandemic has taught the studio about how they can work together, even while working across North America from hundreds of different locations.
With those adaptations, BioWare has applied that to a new work model that will ensure flexibility for everyone in the studio. Their goal is to lean into the things that everyone likes about working from home, while also giving people the opportunity to return to the office with more flexibility.
Going forward, BioWare has new challenges creating a hybrid work approach and focusing on new tech that will help maximise collaboration and communication between onsite and remote people. Another subtle but important change they’ve made is in their hiring practises: previously, BioWare only looked for people willing to relocate to Austin and Edmonton, however, now the team looks for new talent from anywhere in North America.
The studio remains hard at work on the next iterations of Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Gary has seen some incredible work from both teams. If you’re curious about Mass Effect, Gary encourages that you take a look at the poster they released on N7 Day. Apparently, if we look closely, there are a handful of hidden treats; by Gary’s count, there are at least five surprises, all of which point to an amazing future in the Mass Effect universe. As for Dragon Age, BioWare has a veteran group of talented developers working on the next iteration of the franchise. They are focused on a single-player experience that is built on choices that matter.
When Gary took on the GM role, he talked about rebuilding our reputation, and that remains a huge priority. BioWare are laser-focused on building back the trust of their fans and community, and they plan to do that by delivering the types of games that they are best known for and ensuring they are of the highest quality. Their mission is to “Create worlds of adventure, conflict, and companionship that inspire you to become the hero of your story.” Gary wants the launch of their games to be seminal moments in the industry. He wants each game to earn the kind of reaction they saw with Mass Effect Legendary Edition. They feel that they have the right people, the right creative focus, and the support from EA to deliver on the promise.
Ultimately, BioWare can’t wait for everyone to see what they’ve been working on and they look forward to sharing more in the future.
As a whole, I think that’s fantastic. I have a few of my personal thoughts on key parts of this article. First of all, last year, Dragon Age Producer Scylla Costa spoke on the challenges the studio have endured through the pandemic, and the adaptations made to ensure developers are happy and the game’s development continues at a good pace. It’s great to hear that the conditions within BioWare are always improving and putting people first, ensuring that if those who like remote work, can continue to work from home, and anyone in North America who’d like to work at BioWare remotely can have that chance - BioWare increasing their talent pool is absolutely fantastic and can only mean good things for the next game's development.
Gary also explored that BioWare feels that they have the right people, the right creative focus, and the support from EA to deliver on their promise. Without saying it, I feel like this is a statement on Matthew Goldman’s recent exit as Creative Director of Dragon Age 4.
Without speculating, Goldman’s departure seemed spontaneous and cold - there was no official word from BioWare delivered to the press, the only material that was released was a small email from Gary McKay sent to every member of the Dragon Age team explaining that Matthew Goldman was leaving the studio after a mutual agreement. Gary emphasised that EA’s and BioWare’s commitment to a high-quality Dragon Age game has not waivered, and they will not ship a game that is not up to BioWare’s standards. EA’s executive team have absolute confidence in the leadership at the studio and the current people working on this game to carry forward their vision.
Now, I’ll come back to Goldman’s departure in the next story, however, according to Gary McKay, it seems like the Dragon Age team is still in capable hands, following a great creative focus - the leadership will not release a Dragon Age entry that is not up to BioWare’s standards. So, while the Goldman situation is largely ominous, and most likely will remain thay way, at least the development of the next Dragon Age hasn’t waivered and we can trust in the teams who are creating the next game.
I suppose I just hope that Matthew Goldman is doing okay, alas, as it stands, the current vision of the next Dragon Age remains focused on a single-player experience that is built on choices that matter, as highlighted by Gary in this article - which is exactly what we all want to hear.
Overall this was an optimistic article with plenty of insights into the current development of the next Mass Effect and Dragon Age, I do appreciate Gary’s article and the confidence he has in BioWare, and their commitment to creating strong BioWare games. Here’s hoping we hear more about Dragon Age 4 this year.
Mark Kirby’s Creative Director Insight:
Moving on, once more referring to Matthew Goldman’s spontaneous departure, Dragon Age Writer Mary Kirby tweeted about what exactly a Creative Directer should be doing - this was in regards to Ken Levine’s shocking state of game development, however, I personally think it relates to Matthew Goldman’s creative direction, however, I could be wrong, so take this as is.
Mary tweeted, “For those who need to know this: A Creative Director is like the coach for a sports team. Their job is not to tell each team member what to do and how to do it. That's not possible in the daily pace of game dev. Their job is to get their team to work together well. Directors make the call on whether a given piece of game content fits the overall plan for the game, and whether it meets quality to ship. They work to get their teams to reach their fullest potential. If they're not doing those things, either because they constantly change their minds, or because nothing is good enough, or because they don't care about the team itself, they are bad directors. Period. Endstop. The vision doesn't matter. Ideas are cheap. Implementation is hard.” https://twitter.com/BioMaryKirby/status/1478089134883303424?t=BopdWJyj9ciQd1PRzwMV2Q&s=19
I don’t really have much to add to this, but based on what Mary’s said, it certainly paints a picture of what may have happened recently within BioWare. I have no clue, regardless, I appreciate the insight on what a Creative Director should be doing, here’s hoping whoever is leading the Dragon Age team can maintain these attributes.
Alex Calleros Hiring:
On a much lighter note, Alex Calleros excitedly announced that he’s joining the Dragon Age team. He’s super proud to be a part of the studio’s next chapter. Alex has plenty of experience writing, directing and editing, so perhaps he’ll be joining the narrative side of development. In any event, we’re wishing you the best time at BioWare working on the next Dragon Age!
Graham Scott Departure:
In the opposing direction, Senior Designer Graham Scott announced his departure on LinkedIn, huge thanks to Pedro on Twitter for sending this story to me. Graham Scott posted, “At just under 15 years, BioWare has been a huge part of my professional and personal life. I’ve raised my kids from toddlers to teenagers in that time and just like them, I have grown in ways I could never have predicted. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my continuing journey. On to the next chapter…”
We’re wishing you the absolute best on the next chapter Graham and thank you for your 15 years spent at BioWare.
That’ll do it for my first Dragon Age news update of 2022! Hopefully, this year will be a lot more exciting as BioWare plan to talk more about the next Dragon Age this year, so we’ve got plenty of things to be excited about. Let me know your thoughts on each of these stories, how’re you feeling about the soft update from Gary McKay? What are your thoughts on Matthew Goldman’s departure? And what would you like to see from BioWare this year?