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Dragon Age: Origins screenshot

VideoGamer.com: What kind of DLC are fans likely to see for Dragon Age?

BK: I don't work directly on the team so I don't want to make promises for them. We have a separate team that's developing the post-release stuff. I do have rough ideas what they want to do. They want to extend the adventure, they want to add new content into the pipe but I can't really say anything specific because their plans change on a day to day basis.

VideoGamer.com: Can you give us a rough idea?

BK: I think it's probably safer for me not to go into it.

VideoGamer.com: There's been some talk on your own forums regarding the copy protection you're going to have for the game. Have you pinned down a strategy yet?

BK: Lots of talk, lots of listening to fans. Obviously it's an issue that everybody is very well aware of. We haven't announced any plans but we're definitely paying attention to what the community is saying and keeping that to help guide that in the future. But we haven't announced anything yet.

VideoGamer.com: What was your take on the reaction to Mass Effect's copy protection? Have you learned any lessons from that?

BK: Again I think that's part of listening to the community. We've definitely acknowledged what they have said. Obviously I'm up to my head in Dragon Age work, so I don't pay maybe as much attention as I should do to the other products but we want to have a real positive reaction to Dragon Age when it comes out and there's going to be a lot of thought put into what our strategy is going to be.

VideoGamer.com: I interviewed Peter Molyneux recently regarding Fable II, and he said that he felt the PC market was "in tatters" as a result of piracy. But you guys still seem keen to support the PC platform strongly. What's your take on developers who say hardcore PC gaming is dead?

BK: Personally I'm a huge PC gamer. I'd be really disappointed if every company started adopting that philosophy and I think it could start becoming very self-defeating. There's definitely a difference in sales but when you lump all the consoles together versus the PC market it's maybe not a fair comparison. If you make a smart product that has a lot of reasons for fans to continue going online, like our post-release content will, to download additional material that gives them a reason to secure a legitimate copy of the game. There's still a lot of PC games that do well. It's maybe not the golden child market it was a long time ago but it also goes in cycles, right? I really like PC gaming, a lot of people here like PC gaming. We have a lot of fans who are very active and are PC gamers. We have newer fans of the consoles but we still have guys who email about Baldur's Gate II. I think underestimating the PC market at this point would be a mistake. It's still a viable market. I don't feel it's in tatters.

VideoGamer.com: Interestingly Game Informer has posted online that they've got a Dragon Age reveal coming in the November issue and on the front it says it's got an exclusive first look at the console editions. So I guess it's safe to say that Dragon Age: Origins is coming to consoles, right?

BK: Yes it will show up on the consoles after the PC release at some point.

VideoGamer.com: Why have you guys decided to do a console version and what kind of time frame are we looking at in terms of release after the PC version?

BK: I can't speak to the time frame specifically. As to why, we're smart, we think about these things a lot and we know that the console market is an important market as well. And it just makes sense. There's not a lot of RPGs like this available for console players. There's a lot of people that the console is their primary gaming platform, they aren't playing on PC. The reaction to Mass Effect for example, was huge, it was phenomenal. We know there's an audience out there for this Western style RPG and we want to make sure we deliver to them a good, strong fantasy RPG. They're going to have a lot of fun with it. We've kept consoles in mind throughout the development cycle so I think we're going to have a really strong offering to the console players.

VideoGamer.com: Thanks for your time.

Dragon Age: Origins is due out on PC early 2009. A console version will follow.

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