Mike Laidlaw on Dragon Age IV and Departing BioWare

It’s been several months since Mike Laidlaw left BioWare, but that did not stop him from chatting at length during GDC about the direction he was taking an as-of-yet-unannounced Dragon Age IV before his departure. A little something from US Gamer’s piece:

Under Laidlaw’s direction we might’ve learned a more about Solas, the elven apostate who played a large role in Dragon Age Inquisition (which Kat enjoyed) and its Trespasser DLC. “Post-[Dragon Age: Inquisition Trespasser DLC], there’s obviously a route to go with the Solas revelations,” Laidlaw says. “If you’ve played Trespasser, you will know what logically will follow.” The idea of possibly following Solas into Dragon Age 4 is intriguing, as the Dragon Age games aren’t direct sequels of each other.

Ultimately, Laidlaw felt it was time to leave BioWare behind regardless of Dragon Age’s loose threads. “I wanted to try a new challenge, and I knew that [the staff reassignments] would change the date,” he says. “I was going to have a very small skeleton crew, and I’m lucky because Patrick Weekes is an exceptional lead writer, Daniel Kading is an exceptional lead designer. There were two very veteran designers who could hold a vision, and it was going to move down to a very small team.

“I thought if I’m ever gonna go, this is the least disruptive time for me to leave. So I would be stunned if whatever plan I had remained completely unchanged.”

Whatever happens to Dragon Age in the future, though, Laidlaw isn’t worried because BioWare’s respect for the series’ lore runs deep. “The creative leads need to be present and guiding, and the team needs to do whatever they’re passionate about,” he says. “I don’t have any fear that they’ll change the world because there’s a pretty deep respect for what it’s done.”