David Gaider is the co-founder of indie studio Summerfall Studios and a former lead writer of the Dragon Age series. He’s been candid about his time at BioWare, giving us a glimpse of the internal struggles that eventually drove him away from the venerable game maker. Gaider is known as one of the best storytellers in the gaming industry. He knew that his tenure at BioWare was marred by mismanagement and team discord, matters he only fully understood after leaving the company.
Gaider referred to his time at BioWare, which was founded by co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, as “the peak” of the company’s success. He pointed out that this was a transformative period for the company. Just as he himself got eaten up by the industry’s culture, including crunch time and mismanagement, which he once underestimated, so too did his film. “I won’t go into detail about the problems except to say it became clear this was a team that didn’t want to make an RPG,” Gaider expressed, emphasizing the disconnect he felt within the studio.
His original choice to concentrate on the Dragon Age series shone a light on the rifts growing between various BioWare teams. Gaider specifically pointed to a lack of cooperation between the Dragon Age team and the Anthem team, stating, “You see, the thing you need to know about BioWare is that for a long time it was basically two teams under one roof: the Dragon Age team and the Mass Effect team.” He felt that the Anthem team was very closed off to his creative ideas. It seemed like they were trying to keep him from being part of their project.
In spite of his massive impact on the creation of the Dragon Age franchise, Gaider was punished professionally during his career at BioWare. Yet he lost out on the role of creative director, and Mike Laidlaw ultimately received the position. This decision angered him and caused him to lose faith in his upward mobility in the firm. Following the launch of Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014, Gaider requested to transition to a different project within BioWare. But then he ran into even more problems when his visions for Anthem were rejected as being “too Dragon Age.” He was challenged to change the thematic direction of the writing to a more adventurous “science fantasy” tone, like that of Star Wars.
Looking back on this trip, Gaider said, “Were really opposed to RPGs, actually. They expected me to use my magic writing wand. They followed up with none of the tools that I needed to create a BioWare caliber story. His early conceptual vision for Anthem had created a more serious, somber sci-fi setting—almost like Aliens. Yet this simple approach ran afoul of the route preferred by Anthem team leadership.
In many ways, Gaider’s frustrations would lead to his decision to leave BioWare once and for all. He is the co-founder of indie studio Summerfall Studios. He sought to pursue creative projects without the limitations he found while in his prior position. The shift opened up an exciting new chapter in his career, giving him the space to pursue new methods of storytelling within the game world.