We caught hold of Bioware CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka on the Gamscom show floor and got a chance to ask him about the polarising effect of Dragon Age 2, and Bioware's plans for Dragon Age 3. "The team is going to have some things that are going to surprise both sets of fans, both core fans and new fans with a marriage of the best from both games, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2," he says
Dragon Age 2 received a wide variety of different scores when it was released earlier this year. Some hated it, others loved it. We asked Dr. Ray why he thought Dragon Age 2 received such a varied response from fans and critics alike.
"It's interesting because the first reviews – the number of the reviews was also very polarised, awesomely so. Lots of 90+ reviews, we also got fans that I think in some cases who were expecting more Dragon Age: Origins, and there was a misalignment of expectation there," says Dr Ray.
"One of the core values of Bioware is that we take feedback really seriously, and we know that the core fans who were expecting more Dragon Age Origins – we have to respond to that – we're not willing to ignore that, we're going to take that head on."
That doesn't mean Bioware are about to backtrack and revert to the more methodical pace of Dragon Age: Origins, however.
"We also have an obligation to our new fans," adds Dr. Ray, "the ones who were surprised and delighted with some new approaches and accessibility in terms of action and combat"
"What we need to do as developers is take that feedback from both sets of fans to heart and see about marrying that in future games in the Dragon Age franchise. I think that the team has actually got a great plan. I think the team is going to have some things that are going to surprise both sets of fans, both core fans and new fans with a marriage of these... the best from both games, Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2. And we look forward more to talking about that in the future."
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.
