I wanted to ask about the more recent marketing of the game. It seemed to take a different turn from where it had been, prior to the acquisition by EA in particular, into something much edgeier, the “New Shit” video, a lot more emphasis on the blood and the sex. Do you think that’s helping get attention for the game and if so, is it getting attention in the right way?

That’s an interesting question. It’s funny because it actually took place well after the EA acquisition happened. What I think it’s done is - the New Shit and that kind of stuff - is that it sat quite a few people back in their chairs. And the people who had been die-hard followers of the game for quite a long time - they watched all the old videos and that kind of stuff - a lot of them reacted negatively. And I think the reason they did is because they were worried that a marketing shift meant the entire game had changed. And, of course, they were excited about the game that they knew. They were worried that, “Wait! What are you doing?” Right? Like, “You must have changed everything!”

I will happily say that this boat is far too big to turn that quickly. This is the Titanic and the iceberg of shipping this damn thing was well ahead of us at that point. What it did do, I think, is it inspired a lot of debate, which is good because it does raise visibility. But it also brought people that may not have paid any attention, like, “Oh, it’s got a dragon. Yeah, I don’t care.” But suddenly, it’s like, “It’s got a dragon and rock and roll and what does that mean?”

And the thing about that, at the time, was we were basically hitting the notes of violence as Dragon Age is a game that is more visceral and is more punchy than many others. So, by giving it a more violent soundtrack than people were expecting, I think it actually had the impact of driving that point home, like, “Look, wow they have big battle scenes. They have persistent blood on their armor so when you come out of a fight…” So, it was all valid stuff that was in the game. And the end result is people flaring up about it to a degree, but also remembering and paying attention and I think that’s important for any game to have people aware of what’s happening.

And at no point did we ever say we changed anything. I think the hardcore guys were a little worried, but since then we’ve gone, “Okay, so now we’ve talked about violence. This month we’re going to talk about lust. This month we’re going to talk about betrayal.” You have to hit the points of the game and each of those has their own way of presenting it. More recently we talked about the music of the game. We talked about Zur and Audrey Ashburn and those haunting lyrics she did-

Which was wonderful stuff.

Yeah, and it’s entirely different in tone. So, that’s always the challenge in anything that’s 80-90 hours [of gameplay].

Now, with the edgier stuff, do you think people who see that and do like it, when they get the game are going to feel like it was represented in an accurate way?

That’s a good question. I don’t think they would feel particularly betrayed. It was all overlaid over the top of imagery from the game, stuff that happens. I think the tone of the game, right away, in almost all the origin stories is fairly dark, whether it’s your first choice, being to execute humans who have stumbled too close to your camp with in the Daelish elf origin, or starting off as a thug for a crime lord in the undercity. So, the tone is right, it’s right there. And when you enter combat, the first time you see a head come off it’s like, “Well, okay. There you go.” And beyond that, if anything, I think it was an invitation for people who didn’t know the game to look beyond just one trailer.

Is the hope that maybe some of these people who don’t play in the classic Baldur’s Gate RPG kind of genre – a genre they’ve completely ignored up to this point – are able to find something they like?

That’s exactly it. RPGs, I think, have a – if any genre has a hardcore fanbase, those who love it – because they come out so rarely and because they are such memorable experiences that it’s very easy to become a convert and to become an RPG guy. You know what I mean? [Points at self.] I’m waiting for the next one. I want it to come out. I’m in that camp. I know this. But there are other people who appreciate story. The same guys who will choose a shooter like Call of Duty where you’re staggering out of a helicopter after being nuked. Those sequences that just draw you right in. They [other gamers] appreciate that the same way an RPG player does. What they may not be looking for is like, “Oh, dragons,” where they’re worried it’s gonna be very staid and very slow. While Dragon Age certainly eases you into the action, I think it hits some notes that are surprising enough that you get a sense of the tone and get that feel of this is a little bit darker and grown up.

This has been in development for awhile. There’s not a lot of games that can be played as an 80-hour RPG these days. Every now and then there’s one, but not many. How big a risk is this game for Bioware?

It’s a game that’s been in development long enough that we were confident we could return to fantasy and hit all the right notes. There’s always risk in any kind of investment of this size and certainly this one for us – the risk is not so much in, oh it took a long time to develop – so much as we would like to see it become a full-blown franchise. We’re looking at it in terms of how did Mass Effect do? How did people react to it? And watching that kind of fevered excitement for Mass Effect 2 is a really strong indicator that this is a genre that people are still very happy to play in.

For us, we’re returning to our roots and going to the same space that a lot of our oldest and most hardcore fans are looking for. There’s almost like an install base there that is very, very excited. But, by aggressively going after the user interface and the controls and the feel of the game to try and speed it up and knock off some of those really rough – okay, it’s round three – kind of edges for the rules. So it’s like, “Okay, when I push this button and I hit a man with my shoulder and he goes sailing backwards - right, I get that.” It becomes a less daunting experience in the beginning, which is why we made certain choices, like the origin stories, so that we could bring you into a new world, focus you down on one character in a specific situation. “Oh, okay, this is what it’s like to be an elf in the city. This is what it’s like to have my class. I only have a few abilities. I can ease into it.” And then we ramp it up and expand. “Okay, now I have two people in my party. Now four. Now, oh god, I have different classes. New abilities. I have spells!” And so on. The player can ease into it and just really charge in.