EA Thought It Had To “Put Lipstick On A Pig” To Sell Dragon Age

3 hours ago 6

Solas with the green miasma of the Fade behind him.

Published Jul 12, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT

Kyle Gratton is an editor and writer based out of Kansas City. He received a bachelor's degree, dual majoring in English and History with a minor in Film and Media Studies, and has been a senior staff writer and reviewer for Screen Rant's Gaming section since 2021, with roles in editorial, and various freelance projects.

A terminal Midwesterner who graduated from the University of Kansas, Kyle also has knowledge and interest in literature, film, film adaptions of literature, and history.

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BioWare's Dragon Age has long been a beloved and respected fantasy RPG series, but publisher Electronic Arts was seemingly incapable of recognizing its appeal. It was, for quite some time, a pillar of BioWare's portfolio alongside Mass Effect. The original Dragon Age trilogy, the first game especially, are considered modern classics, while the fourth game, The Veilguard, released a decade after its predecessor, is more divisive, despite garnering positive reviews. According to one of BioWare's former lead developers, though, EA always viewed Dragon Age's success as some sort of mistake.

Opinions on Dragon Age at EA were supposedly so negative that BioWare was assigned "a head of marketing at one point who literally talked about having to put lipstick on a pig in order to sell it," former writer David Gaider told PC Gamer. Gaider was the lead writer on Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition, but he claims there was always a pervasive worry among the development team about "the project being shelved," simply because EA didn't believe in the franchise.

Characters standing in an eerie atmosphere in The Veilguard.

Gaider says EA always compared Dragon Age to Mass Effect, which the publisher preferred because it "was the slick, modern RPG that had action, and they could sell really easily." Dragon Age was instead viewed as old school and less exciting because it hoped to preserve classic RPG storytelling and featured more methodical combat, at least originally, before it was then made "too fast" in subsequent games. "So whenever a Dragon Age game sold well, we got excuses on the opposite side," said Gaider. "Basically that it was a fluke."

Because of this reputation at EA – and Veilguard's poor performance, which led to layoffs at BioWare – Gaider believes Dragon Age has no future. Gaider says EA publishing another Dragon Age is "unlikely," though he's open to returning to the series if ever given the opportunity elsewhere. As PC Gamer notes, EA's supposed perception of Dragon Age is incongruous with its legacy and sales; Inquisition earned numerous Game of the Year nominations in 2014 and has sold over 12 million copies to date. Its predecessors also sold millions.

Dragon Age Origins Hero of Fereldon Eyes Smoking.

BioWare is currently working on a new Mass Effect, seemingly a last-ditch effort to save both the franchise and the beloved studio. After Veilguard underperformed and quickly landed on PlayStation Plus, it seems unlikely to attempt another comeback. Dragon Age's latest was hampered by a long development full of indecision. It was at one point slated to be a live-service game, the remnants of which can still be recognized in-game.

EA has long had a poor reputation among audiences, some of which is warranted, other facets not. The Veilguard ending up a single-player game was probably for the best, but such a drastic change in direction mid-development permanently hampered it. EA's supposed perception of Dragon Age during the original trilogy is truly bizarre, though. Each game was well-received and sold well, but that apparently wasn't enough.