What’s Next For BioWare: Former Executive Producer Shares His Thoughts

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After Dragon Age: Veilguard has been released, fans curious about developer BioWare are eagerly wondering what’s coming up next. Fortunately, ex-BioWare Executive Producer Mark Darrah may provide some clues. Darrah shared a video on his YouTube channel, Mark Darrah on Games, discussing BioWare’s history and how it could hint at its current and future status, including potential plans for the next Mass Effect.

“One game to rule them all.” Mark Darrah talks about Bioware shifting to a single-project studio

Established back in 1995, Bioware is renowned for producing iconic game series such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Baldur’s Gate, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Last year, they launched the latest installment in the Dragon Age saga titled Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Over recent years, long-standing fans of this studio may have noticed a change in their production pattern. In his recent video, Mark Darrah, who worked at Bioware for almost 24 years until his departure in 2021, has labeled stages in Bioware’s history: Growth, Absorption, Maintenance, Retrenchment, and Single Project.

Back in the early days of my gaming journey with BioWare, they had numerous projects simmering at once. Different teams within the studio were working on diverse games. The crew that crafted Shattered Steel laid the foundation for what would eventually become the Mass Effect universe. Meanwhile, the original Baldur’s Gate creators transformed into the Dragon Age team. BioWare also had crews developing handheld titles, Jade Empire, Star Wars games, and more. In just two years, from 2011 to 2012, BioWare unleashed Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3, and Star Wars: The Old Republic onto the gaming scene.

However, this arrangement proved temporary. As BioWare recognized the requirement for larger workforces to develop such expansive games, teams working on Dragon Age and Mass Effect began collaborating to release projects like Anthem and eventually Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This collaboration resulted in a studio that focuses on developing one game at a time. With the launch of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it seems that Mass Effect 5 is the next project in line for BioWare.

Mark Darrah’s video suggests a visible shift in BioWare’s employee allocation. Previously, when a game like _Dragon Age: The Veilguard_ was about to be released, all available BioWare employees would be involved in its launch. However, as Darrah mentions, if you look at the social media profiles of those who worked on _The Veilguard_, some have moved to work on _Mass Effect_. But not everyone has transitioned to _Mass Effect_; instead, some are being assigned to other areas within EA. This implies that the upcoming _Mass Effect_ may still be in its early stages, and it doesn’t yet require a full BioWare team commitment.

Darrah highlights that this situation isn’t inherently negative; instead, it could be advantageous because, for the first time in its history, BioWare can concentrate all its efforts on a single project – Mass Effect. This focus allows them to direct all their resources towards achieving one goal: creating the best possible version of Mass Effect. The potential challenge could lie in bringing developers back after they’ve contributed to other EA projects.

As an eager Mass Effect enthusiast, I’m hopeful that we’ll uncover more details about the ongoing Mass Effect project within the next two years. Until then, my fellow BioWare and Mass Effect fans, let’s keep our patience as we wait for the exciting revelations to come!

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2025-01-23 00:31