I'm back with another news roundup, this time with June’s updates on the next Dragon Age and we’ve got a lot to go over today. EA Play 2021 is just around the corner, however, BioWare won’t be making an appearance, a Dragon Age determined PSN Alpha File has been discovered, BioWare have a permanent General Manager, there’s been another major staff departure, and we have closure on Mark Darrah’s departure, as well as his insights on the next Dragon Age.
So, without further ado, let’s press ahead with today’s updates, starting with EA Play 2021.
EA Play 2021 No Show:
Unfortunately, BioWare have confirmed that the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect will not be at EA Play 2021. While the entire fandom had hope for a new trailer, BioWare are taking a rain check from the event this year.
Even so, BioWare confirmed in a blog post last year that we’ll see something on the next Dragon Age this year, hopefully, they’ll let us know when that will be. I suspect either Gamescom, Dragon Age Day or The Game Awards 2021.
PSN Alpha File:
Moving on to an update that lots of fans are freaking out about - a Dragon Age 4 Alpha file has apparently been data-mined on the PlayStation Store by a seemingly credible Twitter account PlayStation Game Size.
The tweet suggests that the PlayStation Store may be updated with something Dragon Age 4 related in July before EA Play, however, the contents of this file is quite illusive. Many gaming sites like GamesRadar and VG247 seem to believe that this Alpha file either relates to a new trailer revealed at EA Play, or it’s something like new art or a proper store listing for the next Dragon Age.
I could spend ages speculating what it could be, in truth, we don’t know, but it seems like it might not be too long before we find out. Personally, when I first saw this, I took it with a grain of salt and thought that it could simply be a file for internal testing between the developers while working remotely, but then again, the team has new infrastructure to support streaming developer console kits, so I’m honestly not sure in the slightest.
Lots of people have reached out to me and shared their sentiment that this file is a demo for players to try in July, and given the current production time of the next Dragon Age, I hope not. I don’t think it makes sense for the game to be in its Alpha stages right now, considering it just started production last year. And even so, why would we have an alpha demo for a single-player Dragon Age game?
Again, who knows? For now, I’m going to assume this is a harmless store listing for the PlayStation Store or an internal console test for the developers.
Gary McKay Confirmed as Studio General Manager:
Continuing ahead, Gary McKay, formerly the Interim General Manager of BioWare following Casey Hudson’s departure, has been confirmed as the permanent General Manager.
In a BioWare Blog Post, Gary shared a bit about his history and his plans for BioWare.
Gary started his career in the games industry with EA back in 1998, (which is when I was born). He said it was so exciting to see BioWare and EA grow in the early days. He spent the next seven years with EA before moving on. But now you could say he’s come full circle.
BioWare has been at the top of Gary’s bucket list of studios he’s wanted to work with, he believes that BioWare are unique because the studio has an incredible history of building critically successful games and universes that are truly beloved by so many fans. He thinks success for BioWare in the future is all about rebuilding that reputation, and delivering on that promise of quality.
Ultimately, Gary shared that with his direction, EA are laser-focused on releasing the types of games BioWare has built a reputation on. Those being high-quality console, PC, and online RPG games with rich stories, unforgettable characters, and vast worlds. The teams continue to work on the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect — and this is a milestone year being the 10th anniversary with more to come from Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Honestly, that’s pretty exciting, I’m happy to see Gary staying on as the General Manager, based on this blog post, he’s got the right mentality that the studio needs going forward - here’s hoping BioWare delivers on their promises this time around.
Studio Departures:
In the opposite, more skeptical direction, I’ve got to talk about another major staff departure in the Dragon Age team. In my early June news update, I mentioned two departures from the team in March and May, however, recently in late June, Lead Product Director Gabe Heiland left the Dragon Age team.
I really liked Gabe and I’m honestly sad to see her go, I wish her the absolute best on her future endeavours. According to Gabe’s LinkedIn, her role at BioWare included representing the Product Management discipline in the Game Leadership team, guiding best practices in Live Service design, KPI implementation and use, business decisions, and building Product Management discipline on the development side.
Honestly, it sounds like a major departure and blow to the team in my opinion, but I’m not going to assume the worst just yet. However, it’s worth considering that there have been 7 departures in 7 months.
Melissa Janowicz (Gameplay Designer), Casey Hudson (General Manager), Mark Darrah (Executive Producer), Justin Masse (Experience Designer), Arone Le Bray (Narrative Quality Lead), Presley Hynes (Audio Artist) & Gabe Heiland (Lead Product Director).
I just hope that each developer has left for their own reasons and not because the next Dragon Age is suffering through a rough development process. Again, I’m still hoping for the best, but being very wary, and acknowledging a red flag when I see one.
Mark Darrah Interview:
Moving on, the final update I have for you is quite juicy! Former Executive Producer Mark Darrah was interviewed by MinnMax Show about his career at BioWare and why he decided to leave the studio. Throughout the interview, Mark discussed his lessons from crunch, Dragon Age 2’s rushed development, BioWare’s approach to creating big games and not bursting any bubbles regarding fan theories on the next game.
I’ve highlighted Mark’s major remarks with regards to the next Dragon Age and his departure of the studio:
Regarding pre-production work within BioWare, Mark said that there’s a hubris that happens in triple A games development when projects are in early production with a small team, the developers have a tendency to think that their project is great and nothing could go wrong - that they have learned from previous mistakes and can work around them this time. However, as the team grows and the pivots of production change, that’s when the issues start to affect the project.
As the next Dragon Age pivots into production and the team gets bigger, Mark’s interested to see if that sentiment is true, and how the studio will combat that if it is.
Mark talked about why Anthem couldn’t just be delayed for another year, and it’s a much more complex situation than it seems. With regards to Anthem, there were over 200 developers working on the project in its final months, a very tired team who had been crunching hard, if the game was delayed for a year, that would not only increase the budget by an astronomical amount given how many staff were on the project, but it would’ve pushed the developers further - the team were already burnt out, and Mark said that they wouldn’t have survived another year on that project.
I found this insight particularly interesting because I’m rooting for a 2023 (+) release window for the next Dragon Age, however, Mark’s remark proves that while it’s not impossible, it’s not an easy process to get the executives and the team to agree on a delay.
Before Mark left BioWare, he said that he was able to move the needle somewhat with regards to a speedier development process without crunching the Dragon Age team too hard. Hopefully, the team still follows his handling of avoiding as much crunch as possible.
Respectfully, Mark pointed out the amazing Dragon Age YouTubers and why he doesn’t create videos bursting our bubbles, he had this to say:
“There is an entire segment of YouTube which is Dragon Age fans talking about Dragon Age theories and watching the trailers and picking them apart and I could do that, but I feel like that would be destructive to everybody because I could deflate all the theories - some of which are completely wrong, some of which are amazingly right, but I don’t think the community wants that from me.”
As one huge aspect of the Dragon Age YouTube community, I really appreciate Mark not pulling away the curtains and still giving me things to talk about even at the sacrifice of his metrics, thank you Mark.
Mark also noted that anything from this point that comes out from BioWare, he is shockingly uninformed of.
So, it seems like he’ll be able to enjoy the next Dragon Age’s marketing as a highly insightful fan this time. Wrapping up, Mark Darrah shared many reasons why he left the studio:
He wanted to create smaller games with smaller teams. He was with BioWare for 23 years and wanted to move on.
And as the next Dragon Age was moving towards production, there were aspects of the Dragon Age team that wanted to be in the production stages, however, they weren’t ready for that team to enter production, and therefore needed to go through more pre-production work with a leader. Mark wasn’t up for that challenge anymore which played a tiny factor in his departure, however, he believes that once that specific team are in production, they will move mountains, but they need someone who can lead that.
Mark shared that his departure was not coordinated with Casey Hudson despite the fact that they both decided to leave the studio at the same time. Mark said that there was nothing that triggered them at the same moment to leave, other than potential corporate friction, but nothing major. In fact, Mark stayed with BioWare until February 2021, whereas Casey left in December 2020.
Be that as it may, Mark has done wonders for BioWare over the past 23 years, and based on what he’s said, there was no huge moment that caused his departure other than a change of scenery, which is completely understandable.
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