David Gaider, the architect of the Dragon Age universe, is currently steering his studio, Summerfall, towards a new venture: a heist RPG. The project, described by Gaider as featuring "a crew of rogues in an airship that go around performing heists," is intended to be a departure from his previous dark fantasy work, aiming for a lighter, more smile-inducing tone.
Gaider, whose career includes significant contributions to Baldur's Gate 2 and Neverwinter Nights before his decade-long tenure with Dragon Age, stated he wanted to create something "that could make me smile." He believes such a tone is needed in the current global climate. However, the development of this new RPG is happening against a backdrop of significant industry contraction. "It's been almost three years it's been going through this weird contraction," Gaider noted, highlighting widespread layoffs and a reluctance from publishers to fund new intellectual properties. Funding, he explained, is largely being directed towards sequels and established IPs, with new projects struggling to secure investment.
This funding landscape presents a significant challenge for Summerfall Studios. Gaider mentioned that publishers are increasingly hesitant, often wanting to see games much further along in development before committing financial support. "With one publisher, we said to them, 'Are you really waiting for us to finish the project before you commit to it?' And they embarrassedly were like, 'Well, in so many words, I guess, yeah.' There's a lot of smaller studios like ours that are really struggling at this point," he said. The current heist RPG project is, in Gaider's words, "make it or break it for the studio."
Summerfall Studios, co-founded by Gaider nearly a decade ago in Australia, previously developed Stray Gods, a narrative-driven game that blended Telltale-style storytelling with musical numbers. Gaider also reflected on how the success of Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3 may have impacted Stray Gods' commercial performance. He recounted that Larian moved Baldur's Gate 3's release date forward, coinciding with Stray Gods' launch, which made it difficult for his game to gain attention. "I was kind of raw about that," Gaider admitted.
Following Stray Gods, Summerfall developed a narrative-focused deckbuilder called Malys, which Gaider described as a small side project intended to keep the studio's team engaged. "We really didn't expect Malys to make any money, actually," he stated. The success of Malys could have potentially provided a longer runway for the heist RPG's prototype development, but its performance was not as anticipated.
Gaider also commented on the recent Dragon Age title, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, acknowledging the difficulties the development team faced. "Electronic Arts really did a number on them in terms of setting them up to fail, honestly," he remarked. He expressed a belief that BioWare games, particularly in the Dragon Age series, have lost some of their critical tension by prioritizing player comfort over character agency. He recalled earlier titles like Baldur's Gate 2 and Dragon Age: Origins, where companions could betray the player or leave their party over moral disagreements, creating genuine stakes. "The idea that we can't permanently take someone out of a group, that followers have to be agreeable for purely gameplay reasons, runs contrary against the thing that made BioWare games most popular," Gaider argued. He advocates for writing that embraces believable characters with their own identities, even if it means those characters might disagree with or reject player choices, stating, "This is not about wish fulfillment."
Looking ahead, Gaider expressed a degree of philosophical acceptance regarding the future of Summerfall Studios. "Not everything lasts forever. Seven or eight years is a nice long run, and it's been fantastic," he said. If the studio does not secure funding for the heist RPG, Gaider is uncertain about his next steps in the industry, even questioning the availability of senior roles. He mused about potentially working on Owlcat Games' The Expanse project, an IP that aligns with his interests. Regarding the Dragon Age franchise, Gaider indicated that while he previously felt he was done with the series, he would consider returning if the opportunity arose to "breathe the life back into this baby," by returning to its darker, more challenging roots.