Dragon Age: Veilguard director leaves BioWare after 18 years at EA after an offer to create a new role-playing game she “couldn’t refuse”
Update January 17: Eurogamer received a statement from Boucher also confirming her departure, saying she received an offer she “couldn’t refuse”.
Bush writes: “Essentially, it was about my own self-actualization. At BioWare, I did what I set out to do. That is, he came and helped put the ship in order. I love Dragon Age and BioWare, so having the chance to bring the game back as a decent quality single-player RPG was the privilege of a lifetime.
“It was an uphill battle because games with such turbulent development cycles rarely end up being released, and even more rarely are great. We, as a team, dealt with this. And it was hard. It took a toll on me. BioWare still has a lot of work to do culturally, but I believe they are on the right footing now.”
Regarding this new offer, she says that “the departure was voluntary because I was presented with an opportunity that I could not refuse. CRPG space and preserving the traditions of great characters.”
Original story: Dragon Age: The Veilguard game director Corinne Boucher is leaving BioWare after nearly two decades with the company, according to multiple sources.
The first confirmation came from journalist Jeff Grubb, who wrote in a post to X that “Corrine Bush, director of Dragon Age, is indeed leaving BioWare. But I don’t think EA is shutting down BioWare Edmonton. They told me it was nothing serious.” this part of hearing.” Eurogamer later confirmed the departure in a report, stating that “BioWare was otherwise not affected by any other changes, contrary to rumors.” I’ve also reached out to BioWare for comment and will update this article if I hear back.
Boucher’s departure comes after 18 years at EA, having joined the company in 2006 and moved to BioWare in 2019. In 2022, she became the studio’s game director. damn hard development) two years after its official announcement and a year after it moved on and abandoned the live service. Personally, I would not envy such a position.
Especially considering the game’s widespread reception, with the game receiving high praise from critics but a harsher reaction from longtime fans. Our own Lauren Morton gave it a score of 79 in her review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, putting it a full eight points below what we gave Dragon Age: Inquisition back in 2014, and, as my fellow PC writer so well summed it up, gamers Robin Valentine, 15 points. below both Dragon Age: Origins And Dragon Age 2 (we know, we already know).
But as has been noted on this site before, it has caused controversy even among us writers. Some of us think it’s pretty decent, while others think it’s “bloodless, superficial and broad.” I myself, of course, have complex feelings about this, and an overall devastating take on this story, which started out bad, got a little better, and ultimately lost me completely after about 64 hours – and I haven’t since. felt compelled to go back. . For me it was a decent RPG with a story that bothered me and a toothless world.
However, at this stage, Boucher’s departure from BioWare has nothing to do with this reception, especially since Eurogamer writes that he “understands that the commercial performance of The Veilguard was not a direct factor in Boucher’s departure.” In my opinion, Boucher left behind a game that spent an entire decade in the oven, was tugged at, suffered a few rejections, and came out slightly bland but not a complete disaster – whatever she does next has a much worse legacy. leave behind.