Dragon Age: Origins Goes Triple Platinum

BioWare sent out a press release earlier today announcing that Dragon Age: Origins has sold over 3.2 million copies and taken home over 30 industry awards. And while those are huge numbers by any measurement, it pains me to think that Mass Effect 2 will probably shatter them:

BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins Reaches Triple Platinum Sales

Legendary Studio’s Newest Title Wins over 30 Industry Awards, Ships Over 3 Million Units Becoming BioWare’s Sixth Consecutive Blockbuster Franchise

EDMONTON, Canada–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Leading video game developer BioWareâ„¢, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today that Dragon Ageâ„¢: Origins has sold-in over 3.2 million* units worldwide. The (RPG of the Year) as named by Game Informer, G4, SpikeTV, AOL.com, and PC Gamer, Dragon Age: Origins has been hailed by Seth Schiesel of The New York Times as, (.perhaps the best electronic game made yet.) Dragon Age: Origins has won over 30 (Best of 2009) awards and has an average review score of 91**. This staggering critical and commercial success makes Dragon Age: Origins the sixth consecutive blockbuster from BioWare, alongside Baldur’s Gateâ„¢, Neverwinter Nightsâ„¢, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republicâ„¢, Jade Empireâ„¢ and Mass Effectâ„¢.

Since the release of Dragon Age: Origins in fall 2009, the studio has continued to enchant gamers with additional content packs including Warden’s Keep and Return to Ostagar. The upcoming expansion pack, Dragon Age: Origins Awakening is set to launch on March 16, 2010.

(This is a tremendous start for the Dragon Age franchise and we are extremely pleased with the great reception the game has already received from critics and fans worldwide,) said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. (Our team is dedicated to crafting high quality, engaging new adventures and stories in the world of Ferelden for our fans!)

Dragon Age: Origins Awakening, BioWare’s next installment in the Dragon Age lore, occurs following the events of Dragon Age: Origins. Players assume the role of a Grey Warden Commander entrusted with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and tasked to uncover the mystery of how the darkspawn survive after the slaying of the Archdemon. How players choose to rebuild their order, resolve the conflict with the mysterious (Architect,) and determine the fate of the darkspawn are just some of the many intriguing moral choices that will shape each player’s heroic journey. Players will be able to import their character from Dragon Age: Origins or start out as a new Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais.

Dragon Age: Origins received (Best of 2009) awards from a wide range of respected media outlets around the world, including USAToday.com, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, The Associated Press, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, and many more. The game has also inspired a tremendous response from gamers as BioWare’s online community skyrocketed to more than 5 million registered users, helping to make DragonAge.com the most visited site in EA’s network in 2009, including EA.com.

Dragon Age: Origins is available now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation® 3 and the PC and is rated ‘˜M’ for Mature by the ESRB, ‘˜18+’ by PEGI, and 18 by the BBFC.

*According to internal EA data

**On PC according to Metacritic.com

About BioWare

BioWare develops high quality console, PC and online role-playing games, focused on rich stories, unforgettable characters and vast worlds to discover. Since 1995, BioWare has created some of the world’s most critically acclaimed titles, including Baldur’s Gateâ„¢, Neverwinter Nightsâ„¢, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republicâ„¢, Jade Empireâ„¢ and Mass Effectâ„¢. BioWare operates in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Montreal (Quebec) and Austin (Texas). BioWare’s announced projects include the dark heroic fantasy game Dragon Age: Origins, as well as Mass Effect 2â„¢, the epic sequel to Mass Effect, and the story-driven massively multiplayer online game, Star Wars®: The Old Republicâ„¢. In 2008, BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts, a leading global interactive entertainment publisher. For more information on BioWare, visit www.bioware.com; to join the millions of fans already registered on our community, go to social.bioware.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EAâ„¢, EA SPORTSâ„¢, EA Mobileâ„¢ and POGOâ„¢. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.