Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah has revealed that Electronic Arts turned down a proposal to create a remastered trilogy of the Dragon Age games. Despite BioWare’s internal interest in bringing the fantasy RPG series to modern platforms in a package similar to Mass Effect Legendary Edition, EA declined to greenlight the project.
The proposed remaster would have updated Dragon Age: Origins (2009), Dragon Age II (2011), and Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) for current systems, potentially bundling all DLC and adding quality-of-life improvements. For many fans, this news comes as a disappointment, especially as the older titles become increasingly difficult to play on modern hardware.
According to Darrah, multiple technical challenges influenced EA’s decision. Each game in the trilogy runs on different technology—Origins and Dragon Age II use the now-obsolete Eclipse engine, while Inquisition runs on a heavily customized early version of Frostbite. This contrasts with the Mass Effect trilogy, which was built entirely on Unreal Engine 3, making that remaster technically more straightforward.
Another factor is the loss of institutional knowledge at BioWare. Few developers remain who have experience with the Eclipse engine, making a proper remaster particularly challenging. Any attempt to update Dragon Age: Origins—often considered the standout title in the series—would likely require rebuilding significant portions of the game from scratch.
The timing of this revelation stands out as classic RPGs are experiencing a renaissance. Baldur’s Gate 3 has become a massive success, demonstrating strong market interest in deep, narrative-driven role-playing experiences. This growing appetite for complex RPGs makes EA’s reluctance even more puzzling to many industry observers.
Dragon Age: Origins suffers the most from technical limitations on modern systems. Players frequently encounter stability issues, compatibility problems, and a lack of proper controller support. The game’s status as a beloved classic makes these problems particularly frustrating for fans hoping to revisit Ferelden or introduce friends to the series.
While EA focuses on the upcoming Dragon Age: Veilguard, this decision leaves a significant gap for fans of the original trilogy. The Mass Effect Legendary Edition showed that there’s a real hunger for modernized versions of beloved RPG series, selling well and introducing the franchise to new players.
