{
  "id": 15635119,
  "title": "\"Sexy sorceresses\" and \"bare-chested fighters\": Dragon Age's original artists wanted to base it on Conan the Barbarian, much to the outrage of the designers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/sexy-sorceresses-and-bare-chested-fighters-dragon-ages-original",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-19T16:05:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Rock Paper Shotgun",
    "slug": "rock-paper-shotgun",
    "url": "https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/sexy-sorceresses-and-bare-chested-fighters-dragon-ages-original-artists-wanted-to-base-it-on-conan-the-barbarian-much-to-the-outrage-of-the-designers"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the Summer Eternal anthology, an interview with former BioWare developer and Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider sheds light on the studio's transformation over his career, dating back to Baldur's Gate 2. Gaider explains why the Dragon Age games differ from each other, discussing the challenges faced by the original trilogy under the parent company Electronic Arts. He reveals that the 2009 release of Dragon Age: Origins was salvaged in part due to \"sunk cost\" thinking after EA acquired the studio. Gaider also addresses the lack of a clear vision for Dragon Age from the beginning, leading to significant overcorrection between releases. The initial faction war over the game's fantasy basis among departments could be attributed to the desire to base it on Conan the Barbarian, causing outrage among designers.",
  "summary": "Buried in the vast and sooty-fingered Summer Eternal anthology , there's an interview with former BioWare developer and Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider, who is now creative director at Stray Gods outfit Summerfall Studios. The interview is a podcast-length account of BioWare's transformations over Gaider's career, stretching back to Baldur's Gate 2 . Amongst other things, it explains why the…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}