BioWare officially suggested a Dragon Age remaster trilogy to EA, but it was reportedly rejected due to an aversion to remasters. That news arrives courtesy of Mark Darrah, executive producer on Dragon Age and BioWare veteran, who recently discussed the matter with YouTuber MrMattyPlays.
‘I think they should do a remaster of the first three,’ Darrah said, in discussion about future directions for the beloved franchise. ‘One of the things that we pitched at one point – pretty softly – so pitch is a massive overstatement, was to retroactively rebrand the first three games as if they were a trilogy and call it the “Champion’s Trilogy” … Maybe you do that, as a first step.’
‘As a first step, you shine them up, you re-release them, probably remaster – not a remake – see what happens, and then maybe go from there.’
Why hasn’t there been a Dragon Age trilogy remaster?
While Darrah makes clear the so-called ‘Champion’s Trilogy’ was less of a hard pitch, he states it likely wasn’t picked up and pushed for, as EA has, ‘historically been … against remasters. I don’t really know why, it’s strange for a publicly-traded company to basically seem to be against free money – but they seem to be against it.’
Darrah said that management also has an issue seeing Dragon Age as being mainstream and accessible, as by nature, it’s a bit ‘nerdier.’
Another issue relates to the technical nature of the Dragon Age series, as each game was developed on a different engine. A remaster would need to port all of these games into a new engine, or otherwise solve for compatibility issues. As Darrah pointed out, that would mean significant resources would need to be devoted to the project, and with BioWare already working hard on Mass Effect 5, an alternative studio would need to be on board.
Per Darrah, BioWare works better as a single-game studio, without the need to split resources – so time and circumstances are also working against a potential Dragon Age remaster.
At this stage, it does appear these particular circumstances are holding back a possible remaster, and that players shouldn’t hold their breath to hear more. BioWare is currently engaged in a major, resource-heavy project, and with EA seemingly resistant to the idea of releasing remasters, we’re unlikely to see a Dragon Age refresh in the near future.
Even with the equivalent Mass Effect remaster trilogy being a significant success for BioWare and EA, it appears a lack of interest and technical complications will prevent Dragon Age from receiving the same treatment. This may change in future, but for now, a new trilogy remaster feels like a distant possibility.
Also on ScreenHub: New Resident Evil film adaptation will feature original characters
Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons) has revealed more about his upcoming Resident Evil film adaptation, confirming that while he’s a fan of the games, he’s taking a different direction for this project. In an interview with Inverse, Cregger said that he wouldn’t simply be retelling the events of the games, but instead preferred to tell a new story that operates within the lore and rules of the franchise.
‘Let me say this: this is not breaking the rules of the games,’ Cregger said. ‘I am the biggest worshiper of the games, so I’m telling a story that is a love letter to the games and follows the rules of the games.’
Notably, the director also confirmed the film will be ‘outside of the characters of the games’ and that it wouldn’t ‘tell Leon’s story, because Leon’s story is told in the games.’ Per Cregger, players already have that information, and so he’s not going to retread these stories. After all, fans can simply ‘play the game’ for that.
