Dragon Age: Origins is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare’s Edmonton studio and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first game in the Dragon Age franchise. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 3, 2009, and for Mac OS X on December 21, 2009.
Set in the fictional kingdom of Ferelden during a period of civil strife, the game puts the player in the role of a warrior, mage or rogue coming from an elven, human, or dwarven background who must unite the kingdom to fight an impending invasion by demonic forces. BioWare described the game as a spiritual successor to their previous Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights franchises. The game is played from a third-person perspective that can be shifted to top-down perspective. Throughout the game, players encounter various companions, who play major roles in the game’s plot and accompany the player throughout the game.
BioWare described Dragon Age: Origins as a “dark heroic fantasy” set in a unique world. Its setting was inspired by The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice & Fire, and was described by BioWare as a mix between high fantasy and low fantasy. Development of the game began in 2002, and lasted over six years. BioWare employed more than 144 voice-actors, and hired Inon Zur to compose the game’s music.
Origins received critical acclaim upon release, with praise mostly directed at its story, setting, characters, music and combat system. It sold more than 3.2 million copies, and 1 million pieces of downloadable content. Its multiple year-end accolades included Game of the Year and Best Role-playing awards from several gaming publications. BioWare released an expansion pack for the game titled Awakening in March 2010, and two sequels, Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Inquisition, were released in 2011 and 2014 respectively.
