David Gaider

Career

Gaider began his professional life in the service industry, eventually managing a small hotel, while game designing was a side hobby to him. 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.

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"), 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". Gaider also wrote the prequel novels to Origins, 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 the lead writer of The Silent Grove, a six-part comic series published by Dark Horse Comics. The Silent Grove was followed by its narrative sequels, Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep, also written by Gaider.

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, as well as being selected by several gaming publications, including IGN, Game Informer, and Polygon (website) 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. In early 2015, Gaider moved on to writing the story of Anthem. After Gaider's departure from Bioware the story was rewritten.

On 22 January 2016, Gaider left BioWare after 17 years in the company. 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. He left Beamdog in February 2018.

In 2019, Gaider co-founded Summerfall Studios, a Melbourne, Australia-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. The project was renamed to Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical by 2022, with Gaider still attached as Creative Director. The game was released in August 2023.

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."

Works

Video games

• Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000), Interplay Entertainment Corp.
• Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (2001), Interplay Entertainment Corp.
• Neverwinter Nights (2002), Infogrames, Inc.
• Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide (2003), Atari, Inc.
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), LucasArts
• Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark (2003), Atari, Inc.
• Dragon Age: Origins (2009), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening (2010), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Dragon Age II (2011), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Anthem (2019), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (2023), Summerfall Studios
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024), Electronic Arts, Inc.

Novels

• Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne (2009)
• Dragon Age: The Calling (2009)
• Dragon Age: Asunder (2011)

Comic books

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

References

References

1. "David Gaider".
2. Chalk, Andy. (22 January 2016). "David Gaider, the lead writer of Dragon Age, leaves BioWare". [[Future US]].
3. "IGN's archive interview with David Gaider".
4. Yin-Poole, Wesley. (22 December 2018). "As Baldur's Gate turns 20, we remember why it was great". [[Gamer Network]].
5. "4th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Archive".
6. [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/9/index/560850%26lf%3D8/1#562965 Developer post on Bioware Community].
7. [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/9/index/560850%26lf%3D8/1#572029 Post № 2].
8. "REVIEW : David Gaider – Dragon Age : The Silent Grove".
9. Allegra Frank. (January 22, 2016). "Dragon Age lead writer leaves BioWare after 17 years (update)". [[Polygon (website).
10. (February 6, 2015). "Dragon Age: Inquisition Takes Game of the Year at DICE Awards". [[The Escapist (magazine).
11. (December 19, 2014). "IGN Best of 2014 - Best Overall Game". [[IGN]].
12. Jeff Marchiafava. (January 7, 2015). "Game Informer Best Of 2014 Awards".
13. Colin Campbell. (December 31, 2014). "Polygon's Games of the Year 2014 #1: Dragon Age: Inquisition". [[Polygon (website).
14. Phil Savage. (January 29, 2015). "Dragon Age: Inquisition had most successful launch in Bioware history". [[PC Gamer]].
15. (2 April 2019). "How BioWare's Anthem Went Wrong". [[G/O Media]].
16. [https://twitter.com/davidgaider/status/690565564998152192 David Gaider's Twitter Account]
17. Purchese, Robert. (9 February 2016). "Veteran BioWare writer David Gaider seems to have a new job". Gamer Network.
18. (9 February 2018). "David Gaider has left Beamdog".
19. (February 9, 2018). "Farewell to Dave!". [[Beamdog]].
20. (6 November 2019). "Chorus, the adventure musical game, reaches crowdfunding goal".
21. Kim, Matt. (April 2, 2022). "Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical's Narrative Choices Will be Familiar to Dragon Age Fans".
22. "David Gaider's Blog: ON "THE GAY THING"".
23. (3 May 2023). "Dragon Age Inquisition dev says BioWare "resented" its writers". Network N.