Several key Dragon Age: The Veilguard developers have reportedly either been let go from BioWare or moved to other studios within EA, but senior writer Sheryl Chee has some words of hope.
Chee was also moved out of BioWare, but they post: "I'm now with Motive. It's been a hard two years seeing my team get chipped away and having to still keep going. But I'm still employed, so there's that."
Layoffs have hit the industry hard these last few years. Record growth occurred during the COVID lockdowns, but since that growth has slowed, companies have been cutting costs by firing their most talented developers.
Despite it all, Chee still seems hopeful. They write: "So a cool French woman dropped a cool quote from Camus on me today: 'In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.' (I mean, who does resistance like the French, right?) We're going through it right now. It's a lot, everywhere…"
Many of us may feel like the games we love are dying. Games aren't made by companies, after all, they're made by people. "But DA isn't dead," Chee writes. "There's fic. There's art. There's the connections we made through the games and because of the games. Technically EA/BioWare owns the IP but you can't own an idea, no matter how much they want to. DA isn't dead because it's yours now."
Although a lot of the original team has been moved on to other studios and projects, you can still replay the games, write your own stories in the world, and read the tales others tell.
Chee adds to their thread: "someone just reposted my thing saying they'll write a giant AU and that's what I'm talking about. If DA has inspired you to do something, if it sparks that Invincible summer, then it's done its job, and it has been my greatest honor to have been a part of that."
If you're feeling down about this news, I hope you find some comfort in the community Dragon Age has fostered. Check out our list of the best BioWare games if you want to take a stroll down memory lane.
