James Ohlen, who served as creative director on Dragon Age: Origins, says working on the fantasy series again "is a dream" of his. He made the comment on Sunday while accepting an invitation from BioWare co-founder Trent Oster, who is modeling a plan to rescue the studio's worlds after Electronic Arts shut BioWare down. Check out the official posts down below:
The Worlds At Stake
EA announced on October 21 that BioWare was closing and that early development on the next Mass Effect had ended. EA still owns both of the studio's major settings: Thedas, the dark fantasy continent of Dragon Age, and the Milky Way of Mass Effect, along with older properties such as Jade Empire and Anthem.
Dragon Age began with Origins in 2009, which sent a Grey Warden against the Blight in Ferelden. Dragon Age II followed in 2011 and Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014. The most recent entry, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, arrived in 2024.
Mass Effect ran as a trilogy from 2007 to 2012 around Commander Shepard and the Reaper threat, followed by Mass Effect: Andromeda in 2017. Oster cited both Andromeda and The Veilguard on Tuesday when explaining why he does not expect EA to do better on its own: "EA has had two, well-funded swings at making RPGs with Andromeda and Veilguard. They had the teams and the financing, yet the outcomes were sub-optimal. Why would future attempts by EA be any different?"
Oster's Conditions For A Revival
Oster has repeatedly said that a new team without the rights would only help EA. "There are also couple parts, the IP and the game. One without the other is just making EA money," he wrote on Friday. In another post that day, he said the best result would be "a BioWare with a directive to make the kind of games we become known for and the community still love. No more chasing the business model of the month."
Money is the other obstacle. On Thursday he estimated that a new Mass Effect would face a "rough ballpark" cost of "$200M+," calling it "a big number to commit up front" and saying "there has to be a bigger plan in place for the IP to make the math work." He has since said he believes there are efficiencies to be found.
The financial model keeps changing. Oster said on Saturday that he had passed revision 30 of his spreadsheet, and on Tuesday evening he posted, "Tonight, I'm on revision #51." No financing, buyer group or agreement with EA has been announced.
Ohlen's History With BioWare's Fantasy Games
Ohlen spent 22 years at BioWare and worked on the studio's fantasy RPGs from the start. He was lead designer on Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, both set in the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons and Dragons, and led design on Neverwinter Nights before Origins. On the science fiction side, he led design on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and directed Star Wars: The Old Republic.
He left BioWare in 2018 and founded Archetype Entertainment under Wizards of the Coast in 2019. Oster's invitation mentions that Ohlen is busy with "his own adventure setting," and Oster greeted his acceptance with "Welcome to the resistance."
Oster's own background includes co-founding Beamdog, which released the Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II and Neverwinter Nights.
Fans And A Canadian MP Push For A Sale
Canadian NDP MP Don Davies wrote on Friday that BioWare's developers "should be given the first opportunity," with federal support, "to buy it and run it themselves." Oster replied, "We should have a chat." Davies sponsors House of Commons e-petition e-7898, which asks the federal government to fund BioWare's independence from EA.
The fan-run #SaveMassEffect campaign marked N7 Day on Saturday with a video featuring most of the original trilogy's voice cast. The closure also ended Mass Effect: Universe, a project covered in BioWare's Closure Ended Mass Effect: Universe, And Reports Disagree On A Flag Cut From Its Pitch.
If Oster and Ohlen secured the rights, would you rather see them return to Thedas first or continue the Mass Effect story?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.