According to recent reports, BioWare’s proposal to remaster the first three Dragon Age games was not accepted by EA. The studio had aimed to release a trilogy that would include Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition, similar to the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. However, EA decided against supporting this initiative.
BioWare’s Proposal for a Dragon Age Remaster
In a recent interview with MrMattyPlays, a YouTube channel that focuses on RPGs, former producer Mark Darrah discussed the soft pitch made by BioWare to EA for a remaster of the Dragon Age series. He mentioned the concept of a single package dubbed the “Champions Trilogy.”
During the discussion, Darrah reflected on BioWare’s core franchises, specifically Dragon Age and Mass Effect, while also contemplating the future of Dragon Age following the lackluster performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard last year.
“I genuinely believe they should, although I don’t expect them to, consider a remaster of the first three Dragon Age games,” Darrah mentioned when asked about the franchise’s path forward.
“We had suggested, albeit in a very informal manner, to retroactively rebrand the initial three games into a trilogy and refer to it as the ‘Champions Trilogy,’” he elaborated.
Despite the enthusiasm for the project, EA declined the proposal, according to Darrah. He went on to emphasize that remastering the older Dragon Age titles presents a considerably greater challenge compared to the Mass Effect games.
“Historically, EA has shown reluctance toward remasters,” Darrah stated. “I find it puzzling; they even mentioned this publicly. It’s odd for a publicly traded company to seemingly reject a profitable venture, but that appears to be the case.”
“In addition, the technical challenges associated with Dragon Age are notably more complex than those for Mass Effect, potentially much more so,” he added.
This sentiment was echoed by John Epler, the creative director for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, around the time of the game’s release in 2024. Epler acknowledged the daunting task of bringing the first three Dragon Age titles to modern devices, similar to the Mass Effect remaster, describing it as a significant challenge.
“I might be one of the few remaining at BioWare who has experience with the Eclipse engine,” Epler noted last year. “Translating those original games isn’t going to be as straightforward as it was for Mass Effect, but we have a fondness for the legacy titles. I’d say never say never.”
The original two Dragon Age titles were built using BioWare’s proprietary Eclipse engine, whereas the Mass Effect trilogy utilized the more common Unreal Engine, which simplified the remastering for Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
In October last year, BioWare launched Dragon Age: The Veilguard, marking the franchise’s first new installment in a decade. However, the game fell short of EA’s sales expectations, leading BioWare to announce shortly after its release that there would be no subsequent content updates and that efforts would shift toward developing the next Mass Effect title.
Earlier in the year, it was reported that BioWare underwent significant staff cuts following the disappointing launch of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, with EA laying off over 20 employees and reassigning several others to different teams within the organization.
Additionally, last month, BioWare revealed plans to shut down Anthem, which struggled since its release. The game will go offline on January 12, 2026, after which it will be unplayable.