Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah has returned to work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf as a consultant. On top of that, Electronic Arts said that the Mass Effect team will help with the production of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf as the production and polishing tasks ratchet upward.
The Mass Effect team can do that because the next Mass Effect title is still in the pre-production stage with a small core team working on it, GamesBeat has learned.
“Our studio is focused on creating the best Dragon Age: Dreadwolf while the core Mass Effect team continues their pre-production work,” said Gary McKay, BioWare general manager, in a statement to GamesBeat. “We continue to iterate and polish Dreadwolf, focusing on the things that matter most to our fans. As we further connect this new experience with the series’ legacy Mark Darrah will join the team as a consultant, bringing with him years of experience working on Dragon Age. We’re proud to have this team, with strong leadership at the helm, working together to realize the vision we have for the game.”
EA said that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has been in post-production since September and the team’s been hard at work — spending lots of time iterating and making it better. Now that the team has the ability to do a complete playthrough, it can iterate and polish on the things that matter most to fans.
EA has previously used other teams to complete another game as the deadline approaches to ship a game. For instance, Criterion helped Dice and other studios ship Battlefield.
McKay previously said in a blog post that the Dreadwolf team hit alpha last fall. As development continues, EA is optimizing the team and bolstering it.
Darrah was a former developer and executive producer on the Dragon Age titles at BioWare. He left the studio along with Casey Hudson in December 2020. Recently, he approached BioWare about returning, and the team thought it was an opportunity to bring back a seasoned veteran who was integral to the last three Dragon Age games.
Darrah’s focus will center on ensuring that the team is connecting this new experience with the legacy of the franchise. Respecting the Dragon Age legacy while sustaining the vision for this beloved franchise is a top priority. Corinne Busche (game director), Benoit Houle (director of product development), John Epler (creative director) and Maciej Kurowski (technical director) continue to lead the Dragon Age team.
Meanwhile, the core Mass Effect team, led by Mike Gamble, will continue with pre-production work on Mass Effect. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf doesn’t have a launch date yet. Players are anxious to know when that will be.
“BioWare has a long history of making amazing single-player games with powerful stories that fans can immerse themselves within,” said Samantha Ryan, senior vice president and group general manager at EA, in a statement. “They’ve been taking their time on the next Dragon Age, trying new things, bringing in the right people, and making sure they’re refining their game. That’s normal for a complex game of this genre. This phase of production takes time, and the studio wants to make sure it gets it right for its fans.”
Ryan is in charge of the BioWare, Full Circle, Maxis and Motive studios at Electronic Arts.
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