If a collection like this exists for the first three Mass Effect games, why can’t the same happen for BioWare’s other franchises?
The future of Dragon Age hasn’t looked too bright since the latest installment in the series, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, was released in 2024 to mixed critical reception and modest commercial success. Electronic Arts subsequently laid off dozens of BioWare employees, and several former developers have stated that the series is likely over. While there is little hope for a new Dragon Age game in the near future, is there a chance that Electronic Arts might revisit the older games?
The original Mass Effect trilogy was released as the Legendary Edition in 2021, even though Electronic Arts wasn’t eager to release new games in the series (though a new game is in development, the developers are busy working on it). Could Electronic Arts test players’ interest in Dragon Age with a similar remaster of Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition?
The chances of that happening are slim, according to former Dragon Age producer Mark Darrah. In the same FRVR interview, he stated that Dragon Age is likely dead and pointed out that, although he once envisioned a “Champion’s Edition” similar to the Legendary Edition, EA is now unlikely to create a remaster of the old games, as doing so would be difficult. Essentially, it all comes down to technology.
While all three Mass Effect games ran on the widely used Unreal Engine, each of the three Dragon Age games was built using a different engine. Dragon Age used BioWare’s Eclipse engine, an enhanced version of the Aurora Engine, which CD Projekt RED also used for The Witcher. Dragon Age 2 used an enhanced version of the Lycium Engine. Dragon Age: Inquisition ran on DICE’s Frostbite technology. Nevertheless, Darrah believes that a remastered version of the original Dragon Age would sell well, mainly because the game seems outdated these days.
“There’s basically no one at BioWare anymore who understands the Aurora Engine. There’s basically no one outside of BioWare that understands the Aurora engine anymore. Unlike Mass Effect, which uses Unreal, there are basically no companies that could help you. Electronic Arts doesn’t like having employees, so if you’re going to do that, you’re going to do it under the BioWare umbrella, meaning those people won’t be working on something else. Dragon Age: Origins wasn’t the most attractive game. There’s a lot you could do to make it look a lot better,” Darrah told FRVR.
Perhaps the new Saudi owners will consider this.
