As many fans know, Dragon Age: Origins is a nightmare to play on PC, primarily due to an unfixed memory leak (that neither BioWare nor EA has ever really acknowledged) and poor resource handling on new hardware, but now a group of developers is working on a stronger workaround than the various options available online. EA and BioWare themselves have unfortunately continued to invest fewer and fewer resources in Dragon Age as an IP, and the current state of DA: Origins is a symptom of that.
It’s worth noting that this upcoming method of playing Dragon Age: Origins on PC involves work with the Eclipse Engine, a commonly cited reason as to why a Dragon Age: Origins remaster is unlikely. It’s old, it’s unintuitive, it’s pretty bad. Few, if any, remaining developers at BioWare have any experience with it. And yet, it seems that where there’s a will, there’s a way, and this group of developers is willing a recomp of Dragon Age: Origins into existence.
Dragon Age: Origins Recomp Project to Release in 2027
In a recent update on Reddit, a developer by the username Shot_Let_1344 announced that it just hit 60% decompiled on Dragon Age: Origins. This milestone, they explain, is huge and will eventually lead to some possible changes to Dragon Age: Origins, including but not limited to 64-bit support, bug fixes via the Eclipse Engine, co-op campaign support, controller support, and much more. Everything about it sounds exciting, but it is slow going. This specific decompilation project is “closed source” to ensure the core vision is supported, without AI-slop mods or programs.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
The good news is that the developers expect this Dragon Age: Origins decompilation project to hit 90% in another year, at which time it can be released, meaning a new way to play the best Dragon Age game is coming in 2027. Of course, this is a lot of work and a lot can happen between now and then, but the developers feel like they have a solid understanding of the Eclipse Engine (…official Dragon Age remaster/remakes when?) and most of the general logic of the game.
BioWare’s legacy as a pioneer of RPGs cannot and should not be understated, and from Knights of the Old Republic to Mass Effect and Dragon Age, its IPs are legendary and still influential. For example, Blizzard just announced Diablo 5—and its narrative director is Jennifer Hepler, who worked at BioWare from 2005 to 20013. Hepler specifically worked on Dragon Age: Origins (especially Dwarven content), Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
While it’s a long wait for this decompilation project, it’s definitely worth keeping an eye out and will arrive before any official new Dragon Age gaming content from BioWare. Hopefully, the wider Dragon Age franchise can make its own comeback. I am obviously a dissenting opinion, but I proudly gave and still give Dragon Age: The Veilguard a 10/10 in my book, writing that, “As someone who has mentally lived in Thedas since Dragon Age: Origins, my obsession has been satisfied…for now…In terms of reveals, lore, story development, and all of that, I feel rewarded as a long-time fan.”
- Released
-
November 3, 2009
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content
- Publisher(s)
-
Electronic Arts
- Engine
-
Eclipse
