From August 16 through August 20, we here at TheGamer.com are devoting an entire week of coverage to celebrating BioWare’s illustrious Dragon Age series. From original reporting to thoughtful criticism, to the kind of thing that happens when you get someone who has never played Mass Effect to guess the trilogy’s story from ten random screenshots, readers can expect an enormous amount of content - boo, I hate that word - that has never been seen before.
If you’re wondering what that might look like, it’s worth referring to the Mass Effect week we ran back in February 2021. From interviews with Jack actress Courtenay Taylor to the lore reason behind why the krogan have four balls, to what ex-BioWare devs think about the Mass Effect 3 ending to how Mass Effect 2 was built around the suicide mission, we published over 20 original interviews featuring never-before-seen details on one of the most iconic video game universes to ever exist - we even learned that Mass Effect Andromeda had designs for at least ten more alien species.
Dragon Age week will take a similar approach, including tons of interviews with people who worked on Mass Effect’s fantasy sibling about their insights into how the world of Thedas came about. I mean, you might already know that Thedas is just THE Dragon Age Setting, but we’re not talking about stuff like that - some of what we’ve learned will knock your Skyholdian socks off.
It’s worth mentioning that we will not be discussing Dragon Age 4 - this week is purely based on Dragon Age: Origins (the best one), Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. We’ve spoken to all sorts of people from devs to voice actors, and will also be publishing compelling crit on what has established itself as one of the most beloved and ubiquitous fantasy video game series on the planet. Whether you’re a Solasmancer or an Anders apologist, there will absolutely be something for everyone throughout the week. Although seriously, if you like Anders… Look, I know he’s different in Awakening, but that still doesn’t excuse terrorism, innit.
Despite how excited we are to give you a taste of what’s to come, we’re going to hold off on publishing anything until the week kicks off in earnest - although having seen some of the material we’re working with, I can confirm you’ll definitely want to keep an eye out. What I can do to give you a little bit more of an idea as to what to expect is share some of our most fascinating reports and learnings from February’s Mass Effect week, which reached hundreds of thousands of readers in that week alone. As in, the Mass Effect articles - not including any other articles published on the site - were read by over 500,000 people in just seven days, and continue to be of interest to people today.
- Mass Effect 2's Jack Was Originally Pansexual, But Non-Straight Romances Were Cut Because Of Fox News
- How Mass Effect Inspired The Games Industry And Beyond
- The Making Of Mass Effect 2's Jack
- A Typo Made Humanity's Chances Of Survival Much Better In Mass Effect 3
- A Mass Effect Multiplayer FPS "Similar In Scope To Battlefield 1943" Was Cancelled A Decade Ago
- Mass Effect 3 Writers Toyed With The Idea Of Curing Thane, But A Codex Entry Made It Very Difficult
- Mass Effect Andromeda Had A Playable Prototype For Space Exploration, But It Was Scrapped
- A Mass Effect Spin-Off Game Inspired By Han Solo Was Cancelled Before Mass Effect 2
- Mass Effect Devs Reflect On Their Favourite Characters From BioWare's Iconic Series
- How Mass Effect's EDI Became "The Deadliest SOB In Space"
- Writing Kasumi And Zaeed, The Cut Mass Effect 2 Characters Who Were Resurrected As DLC
Dragon Age week is due to kick off on Monday, August 16 and will run straight through to Friday, August 20. I know we’re being super cryptic right now, but that’s just so we don’t spoil the surprise. Jot the date down in your calendar, set a reminder on your phone, or play through the series in one continuous, fugueish sitting - it'll be a week of writing fit to make the brilliant Varric Tethras look like an undignified hack.