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Dragon Age writer David Gaider says BioWare’s attitude towards its writers has changed over time, with some people at the company becoming “quietly resentful” of them over time.
In light of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strikes, game developer David Gaider shared his thoughts on how game writing is treated in the industry. In the words of a former BioWare developer, “Writing is one of those disciplines that is constantly underestimated.”
In a tweet, Gaider elaborates: “Even BioWare, which built its success on a reputation for good storytelling and characters, has slowly evolved from a company that held its writers in high esteem to a company where we were…quietly reviled and addicted to costly storytelling was considered” albatross “holding the company.”
“It may sound like a heavy accusation,” adds Gaider, “but that’s exactly what I felt right up until my departure in 2016. All of a sudden, everyone in charge began to ask:“ How can we write less? ”A good story just appeared by magic wands, and was not something that required support and priority.” Throughout his time at BioWare, Gaider was best known for his work on the Dragon Age and Star Wars series, but those comments seem especially relevant to Anthem, the studio’s multiplayer sci-fi game. Anthem, vastly different from the narrative games that made BioWare’s name, was a massive failure, failing to deliver on either the single-player story or its multiplayer gameplay.
Gaider is currently heading Studio Summerfall, which recently announced a “role-playing musical” called Stray Gods. As far as BioWare is concerned, the studio is still working on Dragon Age 4 (aka Dragon Age: Dreadwolf) and a new Mass Effect game we’re calling Mass Effect 5 for now. We don’t know a release date for any of those games yet, but who know maybe we’ll hear more news during Summer Games Fest next month?
