Former BioWare producer Mark Darrah thinks the gaming industry should explore product placement to help pay for game development and rely less on live-service monetization. Discussing how expensive AAA games have become to make, Darrah said the industry needs more revenue streams besides selling games, DLC, microtransactions, and battle passes. “Not every game can be a live service,” he said, warning that if the trend continues, most big-budget games could end up built around ongoing monetization instead of delivering a complete experience from the start. Darrah noted that movies have multiple revenue streams, including product placements and brand deals. He believes video games could do something similar to cover development costs without constantly asking players to spend more after buying the game.

Former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah says he doesn’t think we’ll see a new Dragon Age game anytime soon. According to Darrah, getting a new Dragon Age approved inside EA is very difficult because of the company’s internal greenlighting process. He says different teams can end up competing over who gets to work on the franchise, making it much harder for a project to move forward. Darrah also said BioWare is focused on the next Mass Effect right now, and he isn’t sure who would even be in a position to pitch a new Dragon Age game.