Dragon Age: Origins

BioWare on consoles, online, tools and depth.

Interview by Robert Purchese Associate Editor

Updated on 20 Aug 2008

Eurogamer You've talked about - and the subtitle of the game suggests - that Dragon Age: Origins will be part of a series. Is that right?

Dan Tudge

"Dragon Age: Origins" really represents three real key elements. One is obviously the origins stories. The other is the return to BioWare's roots. And the other one is the origins of the franchise, of the series. There's definitely a lot more entertainment... We've built the universe from the ground-up to be something we can base a lot of entertainment product in, and Dragon Age: Origins is really just the beginning.

Eurogamer Will this be a sole focus for BioWare for a few years; getting a second, maybe third game out there?

Dan Tudge

I can say we've got lots of things planned. The Dragon Age franchise is something I've been tasked with managing, with a great team creating a great universe we can base a lot of entertainment in. This is definitely the beginning; there are more things planned.

Eurogamer Do you find developing what you know will be a series from the very beginning strange at all? Rather than, say, creating a game and maybe adding a sequel based off how well that title did?

Dan Tudge

No, not really. BioWare, certainly in recent times, has really started to develop the universes and environments and franchises with a lot of far-sight in mind, and a lot of forward-thinking of where the game could go and what we can do with it. With our fans, what other entertainment products will they really enjoy purchasing and being involved with.

So we really actually look at franchises with long-term goals; very, very long-term goals in mind. I don't think we necessarily did in the early years, although definitely there was a lot of sequel thoughts. But now it is very important to us to look at the big picture for a lot of our entertainment.

Eurogamer We've heard, as you do, that companies often pour so much money into creating hype around an exciting franchise that the first game in it often suffers critically as a result - takes one for the series, so to speak. Are you worried people think Dragon Age: Origins will do the same?

Dan Tudge

If anybody looks at BioWare's track record they can see we deliver nothing but top-notch product right from the get-go, and although we're thinking of the franchise long-term, the quality of Dragon Age: Origins is our number one goal, and giving the fans the experience they've been waiting for. We're definitely making sure the game is going to be up to BioWare standards - and the fans' standards.

That's not an orc, no - this is dark fantasy.

Eurogamer Your high standards are similar in many respects that other company called Blizzard. How do you view Blizzard and Diablo III, which is similar but obviously not the same type of game - do you see them as rivals?

Dan Tudge

No, not really at all. As a fan of RPGs, great product within the genre is great for everybody, and certainly Blizzard makes great products. They're really helping grow our market and we're helping grow their market. The types of games that Blizzard does and the types of game that we do compliment each other, I don't think they really compete too much in that sense.

Eurogamer Blizzard obviously has World of Warcraft, which is enormous. But MMOs in general are sucking up RPG fans online, as well as people that aren't; what effect is that having on single-player RPGs?

Dan Tudge

Talking to a lot of fans in our research that play World of Warcraft and MMOs, we found they're really looking for that great story-driven single-player experience. They haven't seen it in a long time; a lot of the development attention has been going towards MMOs. A great story-driven experience is something that's actually been lacking from the market for a long time now; a true, back to your roots, meaty RPG.

Eurogamer You mentioned pre-release content for Dragon Age: Origins, does that include a demo?

Dan Tudge

You can expect something very creative from BioWare; the details I can't really go into. We do plan on releasing content pre-release as well as post-release.

Eurogamer Is that playable "creative content"?

Dan Tudge

I can't say.

Eurogamer The Dragon Age: Origins PC release is still penned for early 2009. Is that something you're confident of hitting?

Dan Tudge

Absolutely. The team's working very hard on finishing up Dragon Age, and they're all really looking forward to the world getting their hands on it.