TITLE
The Oral History Of Dragon Age: Origins
AUTHOR
Cian Maher
PUBLICATION
The Gamer
YEAR
2021
ARTICLE TYPE
Interview
FROM THE ARTICLE
Dragon Age: Origins is the quintessential BioWare game. Serving as the bridge from classics like Baldur’s Gate and NeverWinter Nights to flashier efforts like Mass Effect and Anthem, it took the sense and sensibilities of the widely lauded ‘old BioWare’ and reappropriated them for a modern iteration of an iconic studio. Whether you personally prefer Shattered Steel, Jade Empire, or Star Wars: The Old Republic is largely irrelevant – Dragon Age: Origins represents the most pivotal moment in BioWare’s storied history.Even outside of BioWare’s wheelhouse, Origins changed the entertainment industry. It was in development before CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher, it launched two years prior to Game of Thrones airing on HBO, and it proved that not all fantasy had to be derivative of readily palatable “high fantasy” tropes. Without Denerim and darkspawn – seemingly ordinary now, but only because of how successful their subversion was then – video game fantasy would look quite different. Elves would eat leaves and dwarves would eat rocks. Kings would be paragons and evil would be absolute. Things would be boring and predictable and homogeneous to the point of purposelessness.
That’s why now, 12 years later, we’re telling the story of how Dragon Age: Origins was made from the perspective of the developers who made it. This brings us back almost two decades, given how long Origins was in development. Still, those long years were indicative of the studio’s modus operandi back then: nothing was done until it was done, and a development in flux was a development where ideas and innovation could truly shine.
COMPANIES MENTIONED
BioWare
GAMES MENTIONED
Dragon Age: Origins
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Jennifer Brandes-Hepler
Daniel Erickson
Daniel Fedor
David Gaider
Kevin Loh
Ian Stubbington
Dan Tudge
Jay Turner
Inon Zur