Overview

• Mark Darrah, former Dragon Age executive producer, described 2017 as the year EA fully absorbed BioWare, eroding its independent culture.
• EA's reallocation of Dragon Age leadership to Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem created leadership gaps and disrupted development priorities.
• Anthem, EA's live-service push, drained resources from other BioWare projects but failed shortly after launch, with its reboot later abandoned.
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard faced a troubled development cycle and mixed reception, leading to BioWare's restructuring into a single-project studio focused on Mass Effect 5.
• Darrah criticized EA's management decisions, citing broken assurances and a shift toward corporate oversight that undermined BioWare's creative autonomy.