BioWare veteran believes that sometimes it’s worth „throwing the thing in reverse and finding another way forward”

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Mark Darrah, a long-time BioWare team member, is widely recognized by Dragon Age series fans. He was with the studio until 2020 but recently came back to lead the development of The Veilguard. For quite some time now, he’s also been sharing content on YouTube, and his recent post discusses game delays.

Better to do it once and do it right

Delaying the release of launches is fairly common these days, especially with games originally intended for earlier releases. Sometimes, there are multiple delays, as seen with Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. Game studios might benefit from taking a single large delay to reevaluate and refine their work in progress, rather than continuously pushing back the launch date.

Knowing your game will be delayed by two years significantly broadens the possibilities for development. Since you’re aware that the release won’t happen in a month but 25 months from now, you have the opportunity to reassess your work and potentially reverse some earlier decisions made under the assumption of making a different game. This allows for a shift in direction. However, if your game is moving two years forward, but only by three-month increments, when does this critical reevaluation take place? This might imply that the adjustment process happens more gradually over time, rather than as a single, significant event.

As a gamer, I often find myself in situations where the progress of the game depends on various factors. If it seems like the game needs constant pauses, maybe it’s time to reassess the entire experience from the beginning. But if the hold-ups are just about fine-tuning, like tweaking optimization settings, then brief delays shouldn’t be a cause for concern.

As a passionate fan, I can’t help but speculate that Darrah could be alluding to “The Veilguard,” a title that was originally conceived as “Dreadwolf.” In its early stages, it was designed with a focus on multiplayer gameplay. However, during the extensive development period, it encountered numerous internal delays and underwent a major overhaul at one point, significantly altering its original concept.

For the past two years, you’ve consistently found yourself behind by three months (with minor setbacks). This situation has prevented you from stepping back, reassessing, and potentially choosing a new course of action. Over time, this situation is not only becoming more challenging, but it’s also making it increasingly difficult to change directions. Instead of having the chance to retreat, you find yourself layering one band-aid solution on top of another, without any real opportunity for a fresh start. Each additional layer, each temporary fix, each attempt to keep things going as they are, only makes it harder to deviate from this path in the future.

It’s tough to disagree with Darrah’s statement; financial issues can be a major hurdle in such scenarios. Since games are essentially commercial ventures, prolonged delays or re-evaluations of the entire project tend to increase expenses, which might not always align with the views of publishers or investors. In the instance of The Veilguard, this approach didn’t prove beneficial either, as the game fell short of Electronic Arts’ expectations.

At times, it might be wise to take a step back, abandon what you’ve been doing, and explore an alternative route for progress.

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2025-03-13 18:32