Mass Effect 5 devs should use Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a "scapegoat" so they can "get what they need" from EA, says former BioWare exec

Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah says the studio should use Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a "scapegoat" to get the resources it needs for Mass Effect 5.

The next Mass Effect game is BioWare's only big project known to be in development, and Darrah reckons this perceived focus on one, single game will make its development cycle "less messy" than previous titles, which in the past have "cannibalized" each other, in his words.

In an interview with MrMattyPlays (thanks, PC Gamer), Darrah straight-up advises the Mass Effect 5 team to point to Dragon Age: The Veilguard's lengthy development, which endured a shift from single-player RPG to live-service multiplayer and then back again, as an example of what not to do.

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"To be frank, the Mass Effect team is going to be able to point to The Veilguard and say, 'We should steer away from some of these things, because look what happened'," Darrah says. "I would honestly encourage that team to scapegoat Veilgard as much as they need to to get what they need from the organization, whether it's true or not."

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Darrah adds that, "the problem with being single project is you have this sort of boom and bust thing happening, where you get really big, and then you have to slim down.

"Now, EA seems to be trying to move to some sort of model where people flow within the overall organization a lot more. So maybe that will be fine. Maybe that'll work out great, but it remains to be seen."

Darrah left BioWare in December 2020 alongside longtime Mass Effect director Casey Hudson after more than two decades with the company. With Mass Effect 5 having been announced in 2020 but presumably kicking into full development post-The Veilguard, that means Darrah hasn't had his hands in its development, but his insights as a BioWare veteran from the very beginning nonetheless carry a lot of weight.

One thing's for sure: Both the Mass Effect series and BioWare as a whole are in desperate need of a bounce back after Andromeda and The Veilguard, respectively, and all eyes are on Mass Effect 5 to see whether it sticks the landing.

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