It’s been a rough few years for Bioware. Originally known for creating back-to-back (to back) RPG classics such as Baldur’s Gate (1998), Neverwinternights (2002), and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) — as well two sprawling, epic franchises with Mass effect And Dragon Age — the Canadian developers once seemed unstoppable.

But then came 2017 Mass Effect: Andromedathe fourth entry in the beloved science fiction series that failed to live up to the praise of the previous trilogy. A buggy, uninspired mess, AndromedaThe program’s reception ultimately led to all downloadable content plans being canceled.

In 2019, BioWare released the multiplayer adventure game, National Anthem. It was a huge departure from the studio’s historically narrative single-player games, and it too was mostly met with disdain by fans. In 2021, the developer also pulled the plug on any new updates National Anthemwith the focus instead on the future of the core Dragon Age And Mass effect franchises.

That decision seems to be paying off, like Dragon Age: The Veil Guard (out October 31) is without a doubt Bioware’s best game in a long time. Prior to launch, Rolling stone spoke with creative director John Epler to discuss what lessons the studio learned from its past risks and subsequent failures, the decision to move away from multiplayer, and where we should go from here.

Back to basics

When Dragon Age: Inquisition was released in 2014, it broke the mold of the series by adding a multiplayer twist to the strict single-player focus of previous entries. It received mixed reception, with many fans feeling that the addition was poorly handled and provided little value to the core gameplay. During the early development of The Veil GuardBioWare again experimented with multiplayer, but Epler emphasizes that there was never a mandate from parent company Electronic Arts to implement specific online or live service modes; the developers were simply exploring different ways to tell the story.

Ultimately, BioWare left the multiplayer aspects behind to focus solely on creating a single-player experience, aiming to meet the high expectations of the fandom. “We’re a studio built to make single-player RPGs,” says Epler. “And more importantly, I think a lot of people came here to build story-based, single-player RPGs. So it ended up making more sense to make this game as it is, compared to a multiplayer game.

With the transition back to the core single player emphasis, a lot of it The Veil GuardBioware’s systems needed to be reworked, including one that Bioware is best known for: its companion system. Unlike before Dragon Age games, The Veil Guard only lets players compete against two companions instead of three – more in line with how the party system works in Bioware’s other big game, Mass effect. However, when developers tested multiplayer for the game, the classic four-player party setup featured the player and three other friends joining in.

But now that The Veil Guard was strictly a solo affair, BioWare wanted to focus on the main character, Rook, and their companions. The banter between the company was essential in making them feel like fully realized characters. In previous Dragon Age As the player traversed the world, non-playable party members would talk to each other about current events or their interests, expanding on their perspectives and constantly evolving the dynamic between the team. This was usually reserved for only two characters at a time, with the third usually snaking to the side.

“One of the biggest things we hit Dragon Age: InquisitionAt launch, people felt there wasn’t enough chit-chat with colleagues because it wasn’t happening that often,” says Epler. “A lot of our party banter is built around two characters interacting with each other. When it came down to it, it felt like (three) was the right number when we were building the game.

And while it took some time to arrive at a final number of active party members, Epler emphasizes that initial experimentation with multiplayer ultimately had no influence on the decision. “It wasn’t a leftover from multiplayer at all,” he says. “In fact, one of the only things that survived was a party of four, until we tried it out a lot and realized that three made the most sense for the game.”

Lessons to be learned

While National AnthemBioWare’s poor reception wasn’t the only reason for BioWare’s decision to refocus on making single-player narrative games; it was clearly a catalyst. One of the biggest complaints from fans about the game was the lack of traditional stories and characters that graced the studio in the first place, mainly due to one of the developers’ weakest links: Andromeda.

“We alienated parts of our fan base that had been with us for a long time, and failed to bring anyone else in through the multiplayer side of things,” says Epler. “Reception National Anthem was very clear in the sense that we needed to get back to those aspects that we were good at, and multiplayer became an obstacle in the way of doing just that.

Developing games is by no means an easy process, and Bioware fell into the pitfalls of releasing two games back-to-back that were riddled with bugs at launch. But they are far from the only ones part of this recent trend. Games like this year’s Star Wars Outlaws also released with major technical performance issues, to the point that Ubisoft delayed the next one Assassin’s Creed access until 2025 to get the game’s presentation in order.

The biggest lesson BioWare learned from Mass Effect: Andromeda‘s failed launch was Polish’s interest. The game became the butt of jokes and a slew of memes for its hilarious visual issues, a legacy that leaves Epler feeling torn. “I think so Andromeda was a better game than the reception suggested, but on the other hand I don’t think the reception was unfair,” he recalls. “At the time of launch there were technical issues and things that didn’t work.”

Avoiding these issues again was crucial for Epler and the rest of the team, especially as they tried to get back into the players’ good graces.

Another lesson BioWare learned from critics AndromedaAnd Inquisition was also that building a massive open world sometimes doesn’t mean much if it’s not filled with meaningful content. At the time both games were developed, open worlds and large explorable spaces had become an industry trend, even in games where they didn’t fit the overall vision. BioWare still wanted players to have a sense of discovery The Veil Guardbut also didn’t want to settle for an open world that the developers couldn’t realistically fill.

“We were doing it Dragon Age pre-production on versions of Dragon Age 4and we had a version that was much more open,” says Epler. “But again, we ran into the same problem: how do you make it compelling or narratively interesting? The reception at Andromeda certainly reinforced that.”

Stay focused on what comes next

Of Dragon Age: The Veil Guard Now complete, BioWare confirms that there are currently no plans for downloadable expansions. The developers’ full attention has now completely shifted to the next thing Mass effect as their current project. While Epler doesn’t want to reveal anything about it, he does wonder if BioWare would take another stab at multiplayer.

“It is possible to tell a strong story in a multiplayer game. Final Fantasy XIV does an excellent job,” he says. “Multiplayer also introduces some complications around world states. I make a huge choice in my world, and the world changes. For games like Dragon Agethe consequences of a player’s choice are meant to influence the subsequent story, but for a multiplayer game it’s not that simple. For example, one player may choose to save a certain person from their fate, while another player does the opposite.

“It’s funny because the games I play the most in my spare time are actually multiplayer games,” he says. “But when it comes to creating these worlds and creating the experiences, I love the focus that single player can give you.”

Epler also comments on the possibility of some sort Dragon Age collection, similar to the Legendary Mass Effect Collection which updated the original games for modern consoles in 2021. Since the first one at Bioware Dragon Age game from 2009, he would love to see a collection come together, but remastering the first three games in the series would be a challenge as they were originally designed using EA’s proprietary game engines. The first two used their own modified Eclipse Engine Inquisition used Frostbite, a platform famously used for the Battlefield games.

The Mass effect trilogy, on the other hand, used Unreal Engine, a more flexible and popular engine used in game development, which made the remastering process much easier for the players. Legendary collection.

“I think I’m one of about 20 people still at BioWare who actually uses Eclipse,” Epler says. “It’s something that won’t be that easy Mass effectbut we do like the original games. Never say never, that’s what it comes down to, I guess.”

By shifting the focus from multiplayer integration to completing the solo story, BioWare was finally able to get started The Veil Guard to the finish. “Once (the companions) become the core, all the other pieces fall into place,” he says.

“Statistically, a lot of people just take the first two companions they meet, and that’s their companion for the rest of the game. I would say for The Veil GuardTry different characters, try different combinations and go outside your comfort zone.”