EA apparently turned down a Dragon Age trilogy remaster pitched by BioWare, denying the series the same treatment that the publisher's original Mass Effect releases received a few years ago.
That's according to an interview between YouTuber MrMattyPlays and ex-BioWare producer Mark Darrah (via Eurogamer), in which Darrah says that BioWare suggested remastered versions of Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II, and Dragon Age: Inquisition, to be released as The Champions Trilogy.
According to Darrah, though, EA is "against remasters", and while he doesn't exactly know why, he wryly says it's because the publisher "basically seem[s] to be against free money". Given EA's championing of loot boxes in the likes of EA Sports FC, I'm not sure about that, but I see his point.
According to Darrah's interview, BioWare's resources were split between the upcoming Mass Effect 4 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which was released last year to an initially positive but eventually largely indifferent reception. That's another reason no trilogy remasters were made, Darrah says.
There's also the fact that while all three Mass Effect games were made in Unreal Engine 3, all three Dragon Age games constituting the series' original trilogy were made with different engines, so remastering them would have been a more difficult task. Still, I'm sure there was a way to get that work done, so it's a shame EA decided not to.
While the next Mass Effect game remains in active development (as far as we know), Dragon Age's future as a franchise looks to be a little more in doubt. Veilguard underperformed for EA, and CEO Andrew Wilson seemingly insinuated back in February that the game's failure could be put down to its lack of "shared world elements".
Whether that means we'll get another Dragon Age game with a more live-service bent, as Veilguard was meant to be, remains to be seen. Perhaps BioWare will be able to convince EA to make another game in the series, or maybe it will be shelved for the time being. Only time will tell.
For now, you can content yourself with the fact that the original Dragon Age trilogy is still on sale on PC via Steam, and The Veilguard is also available now, although you may well find it an acquired taste if you're a huge fan of the originals (particularly Origins).
