Former lead Dragon Age writer David Gaider pens Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfiction

David Gaider, you may recall, left BioWare in 2016 after 17 years with the studio. Gaider worked on multiple series in his tenure, but he's best known for his work as lead writer on the Dragon Age games, all the way from Origins to Inquisition. A year before he left the studio, Gaider also parted ways with Dragon Age to move onto a new project. At the time, he said "it's hard to leave Dragon Age behind," and judging from the Dragon Age: Inquisition fanfiction Gaider just published on Medium, he could never truly leave it behind. 

The short story stars Dorian, one of the companions and romance options in Inquisition. In a preface, Gaider described the story as "pure fanfiction" and affirmed that, seeing as how he is no longer with BioWare, it shouldn't be treated as canon. Even so, it's well worth a read, whether you're a fan of Dragon Age, Dorian or just fantasy in general.

"This is purely fanfiction — a little story that planted itself in my head after a recent conversation over drinks, one which wouldn’t go away until I wrote it," Gaider said. "Revisiting Dorian was both easier than I feared but harder than I’d imagined, so take this for what it’s worth… just a bit of time spent having fun with an old friend."

The same year he left BioWare, Gaider joined publisher and digital distribution platform Beamdog, which was working on Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear at the time. As previously reported, Gaider wasn't credited on Siege of Dragonspear or the other game Beamdog released during Gaider's stay, Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition, and earlier this year he left Beamdog as well.

Austin Wood
Staff writer, GamesRadar

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.