BioWare has never had a very prolific relationship with Sony. The Mass Effect developer has yet to release a game for the PlayStation 3 and released but one title, MDK 2, for the PS2. But, the revered development firm is about to break the trend with the looming release of Dragon Age: Origins for PS3. EA Vice President Greg Zeschuk has stated that the Dragon Age team approached PS3 with eagerness, “Actually, it was very exciting. People on the team were really pumped to work on it. They were like, wow. We have a lot of people that like doing new stuff and trying new things and they were like, wow, another platform, can’t wait!”

Furthermore, the legendary difficulty of programming for the PS3 did not hamper BioWare’s first experience with the console, “It’s not bad, actually,” continues Zeschuk. “It’s a function of effort. Overall, [we are] pretty happy with how it’s turning out.”

The facts that an EA executive is speaking for a BioWare team and that the developer is venturing into PS3 territory are both telling. In the past, BioWare mainly developed games for Microsoft, due to a close and longstanding relationship between the two companies. Now that BioWare is an acquired arm of one of the game industry’s most powerful publishers, it can no longer justify ignoring a major platform like the PlayStation 3. It will be interesting to see how BioWare further branches out to new platforms and genres in the future.