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Hope Bellingham

Dragon Age co-creator says adapting the beloved RPG into a Fallout-style TV show would be a "terrible idea"

Dragon Age: Origins.

The lead writer of BioWare's Dragon Age series has shared what games he thinks will make a great TV adaptation, and the BioWare RPG isn't one of them.

On April 15, David Gaider—who now heads up Summerfall Games—shared his opinion on what game needs a TV adaptation next. Surprisingly, the developer's answer isn't Dragon Age. Even though Gaider is responsible for the game's setting, he thinks bringing the story of the title to TV is a "terrible idea." 

Replying to a tweet asking what video games fans would like to see adapted for TV, Gaider says, "I imagine everyone would expect me to say Dragon Age, but that'd be a terrible idea." Instead, the developer looks to other studios' work: "I want to see a David Lynch-style (on acid) Disco Elysium. Or maybe Banishers."

Fans of Gaider's work have also replied to him with their suggestions. One follower suggested an Animal Crossing TV show, to which the former BioWare veteran replied: "If it had little to no resemblance to the actual game, sure. Animal Crossing but it's a tense political thriller." That wouldn't be my first choice but I can see the potential.

Elsewhere in the replies, some have questioned why Gaider doesn't think a Dragon Age or even a Mass Effect series would work, to which the developer explains: "You take away the interactive element and you're left with a pretty stock standard fantasy story." The Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical writer continues: "It would take a pretty deep dive to distill the elements of each that make them unique and interesting. Not impossible, but it would take more than a rote adaptation."

As for Mass Effect, Gaider says: "Much like Dragon Age or BG3, I have a hard time picturing a Mass Effect show that does anything we haven't already seen a dozen times. The Halo TV show, for instance, could just as easily have been Mass Effect."

Despite this, if there was interest around a Dragon Age TV adaptation, Gaider says he'd be up for the challenge of helming it on one condition. "I'd be happy to write a Dragon Age TV show," the writer replies to a fan, "but I can tell you right now that a party-based fantasy trope-filled romp a la Honour Among Thieves would not be my first choice. Or second. Or even third."

Speaking of the BioWare RPG, here's everything we know about Dragon Age Dreadwolf.   

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