Key Takeaways
- Dragon Age series creator David Gaider dismissed the notion of The Veilguard turning the series “woke.”
- Gaider labeled the people propagating this criticism as “tourists,” implying that the Dragon Age franchise has always been “woke.”
The criticism of Dragon Age: The Veilguard becoming “woke” is uninformed, series creator David Gaider has suggested, all the while labeling those who propagate it as “tourists.” His rebuttal is just the latest development in the culture wars that have recently encompassed the upcoming Dragon Age game.
Multiple popular online boards, including The Veilguard‘s Steam Discussions forum, have lately been flooded with criticism about the fourth entry in the long-running franchise being “woke.” Some of the posters contributing to this wave of complaints seem to have taken issue with Dragon Age: The Veilguard‘s companions being canonically pansexual, arguing that this attempt at offering diverse romance options robs them of personality. Others appear to be irked by the game’s diverse cast of characters for various stated reasons.
Dragon Age Creator Says the Series Has Always Been ‘Woke’
Dragon Age series creator David Gaider has recently opted to respond to some of these complaints by remarking how “the usual suspects are upset at how ‘woke’ the new Dragon Age is, an apparently sudden and unexpected development in the series.” Following up on that train of thought, the industry veteran called the people who spread this sentiment “f*****g tourists” in a recent Bluesky post. The label was meant to imply that these critics are falsely presenting themselves as Dragon Age fans, who would know that the series could have been categorized as “woke” from its very first entry, which hit the market back in 2009.
In a subsequent interaction with another Bluesky user, Gaider clarified that he has no issues with people liking or disliking whatever they have seen from the upcoming Dragon Age game so far. His comment was instead merely intended to counter the notion that The Veilguard introduces a new level of “wokeness” to the franchise.
Apparently, the usual suspects are upset at how “woke” the new Dragon Age is, an apparently sudden and unexpected development in the series. F*****g tourists.
While the Dragon Age series has always been fairly inclusive, it started out before the word “woke” was even part of the widespread English vernacular, and long before it was adopted as a sarcastic pejorative for anything perceived as progressive. This could help explain why the first three mainline installments weren’t as polarizing, as they debuted at a time when widespread online culture wars of this sort were simply not a thing.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is slated to hit the market on October 31, when it will launch on both PC and the current-gen Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Although Gaider has lately been fairly vocal about his views on the game and the wider perceptions surrounding it, he wasn’t involved in The Veilguard‘s development, as he departed from BioWare back in 2016.