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David Gaider

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David Gaider
BornCanada
OccupationVideo Game Writer
Narrative Designer
Novelist
Comic book writer
GenreFantasy
Science fiction
Years active1999-present
Notable worksBaldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
Dragon Age II
Dragon Age: Inquisition
The Stolen Throne
The Calling
Asunder

David Gaider is a Canadian Narrative Designer and writer. He was the lead writer and creator of the setting for the role-playing video game series Dragon Age.

He worked for Edmonton, Alberta-located game developer BioWare from 1999[1] to 2016,[2] before leaving to join another Edmonton-based studio, Beamdog, as their Creative Director. He departed Beamdog after two years.

In 2019, Gaider announced the assumption of a Creative Director position at the newly-founded Melbourne, Australia-based indie game developer, Summerfall Studios, and a new project entitled Chorus: An Adventure Musical.

Career

Gaider began his professional life in the service industry, eventually managing a small hotel, while game designing was a side hobby to him.[3] In 1999, a friend who worked as an artist at a local game studio named BioWare (at that point having only recently achieved success with the release of Baldur's Gate) suggested to the studio founders, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, that Gaider be given a newly-available position in the design department. Gaider got the job and, as his first assignment, was handed the task of writing for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. The release of that title in 2000 was a great success for BioWare and cemented the studio as a major developer of role-playing games.[4]

Gaider then worked on Neverwinter Nights (released in 2002) and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), for which he wrote the characters HK-47 (winner of the 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards for "Original Game Character of the Year"[5]), Jolee Bindo, and Carth Onasi. An expansion for Neverwinter Nights, called Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, was the first title on which Gaider served as lead writer, responsible for the game’s overall narrative design and managing the project’s writers.

Gaider then assumed the role as lead writer on BioWare’s new fantasy game, Dragon Age: Origins, which was released in 2009. He was also credited with the creation of the Dragon Age setting, the world of Thedas. He was responsible for the writing of the characters of Zevran, Alistair, Morrigan, and Shale, as well as the writing of the major quests, "Nature of the Beast" and "Redcliffe".[6][7] After the success of Dragon Age: Origins, Gaider also wrote its prequel novels, The Stolen Throne and The Calling, both released in 2009. Afterwards, Gaider continued to serve as lead writer in the expansion Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (2010) and then the sequel game, Dragon Age II.

In Dragon Age II (2011), Gaider is credited with writing the characters Cassandra Pentaghast, Fenris, and Knight-Commander Meredith. He then penned the follow-up novel Asunder, which was released on 20 December, 2011. In 2012, Gaider was credited as writer on Dragon Age: The Silent Grove, a six-part comic series published by Dark Horse Comics.[8]

Gaider was again lead writer for Dragon Age: Inquisition, released in 2014, the third game in the Dragon Age series. The game won a number of major awards, including the prestigious DICE Award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science,[9] as well as being selected by several gaming publications, including IGN,[10] Game Informer,[11] and Polygon_(website)[12] as their Game of the Year. According to Electronic Arts' fiscal 2015 third quarter earnings report, Dragon Age: Inquisition is the most successful launch in BioWare history based on units sold.[13]

On 22 January 2016, Gaider left BioWare after 17 years in the company.[14] In February 2016, he announced that he would assume a position as Creative Director at Beamdog, a studio known primarily for releasing updated versions of BioWare and Black Isle Studios role-playing titles.[15] He left Beamdog in February 2018.[16][17]

In 2019, Gaider co-founded Summerfall Studios, a Melbourne-based indie game company. The new studio's first project is Chorus: An Adventure Musical, funded both by Creative Victoria and a successful crowdfunding campaign on the Fig platform, which earned 690,079 USD from 6,018 backers as of November 10, 2019.[18] Gaider is still working on the project as Creative Director, which has yet to be released.

Personal life

Gaider is openly gay. In February 2014, he wrote a post on his now-defunct Tumblr blog, detailing his experiences as a "[video game] developer who happens to be gay."[19]

Works

Video games

Novels

Comic books

  • Dragon Age: The Silent Grove (2012)
  • Dragon Age: Those Who Speak (2013)
  • Dragon Age: Until We Sleep (2013)

References

  1. ^ Profile at Spectrum Literary Agency.
  2. ^ Chalk, Andy (22 January 2016). "David Gaider, the lead writer of Dragon Age, leaves BioWare". PC Gamer. Future US. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  3. ^ "IGN's archive interview with David Gaider". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011.
  4. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (22 December 2018). "As Baldur's Gate turns 20, we remember why it was great". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  5. ^ "4th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Archive". Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  6. ^ Developer post on Bioware Community.
  7. ^ Post № 2.
  8. ^ "REVIEW : David Gaider – Dragon Age : The Silent Grove". Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Dragon Age: Inquisition Takes Game of the Year at DICE Awards". The Escapist. 6 February 2015. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  10. ^ "IGN Best of 2014 - Best Overall Game". IGN. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  11. ^ Jeff Marchiafava (7 January 2015). "Game Informer Best Of 2014 Awards". Game Informer. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  12. ^ Colin Campbell (31 December 2014). "Polygon's Games of the Year 2014 #1: Dragon Age: Inquisition". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  13. ^ Phil Savage (29 January 2015). "Dragon Age: Inquisition had most successful launch in Bioware history". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  14. ^ David Gaider's Twitter Account
  15. ^ Purchese, Robert (9 February 2016). "Veteran BioWare writer David Gaider seems to have a new job". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  16. ^ "David Gaider has left Beamdog". Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  17. ^ Guille, Lee (9 February 2018). "Farewell to Dave!". Beamdog. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  18. ^ Le, Lawrence (6 November 2019). "Chorus, the adventure musical game, reaches crowdfunding goal". PC Invasion. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  19. ^ David Gaider's Blog: ON “THE GAY THING”
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