David Gaider is a Canadian story designer and writer. He was the main writer and creator of the game world for the role-playing video game series Dragon Age.

He worked for BioWare, a game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta, from 1999 to 2016. After leaving BioWare, he joined another Edmonton-based studio, Beamdog, as their Creative Director. He left Beamdog after two years.

In 2019, Gaider took on the role of Creative Director at Summerfall Studios, a newly created game developer based in Melbourne, Australia. At the same time, he announced a project called Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, which came out in 2023.

Career

Gaider began his career in the service industry, where he managed a small hotel. Game design was a hobby he enjoyed in his free time. In 1999, a friend who worked as an artist at a local game studio named BioWare suggested that Gaider join the studio. At that time, BioWare had recently gained success with the release of Baldur's Gate. The studio founders, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, offered Gaider a new position in the design department. Gaider accepted the job and, as his first task, was asked to write the story for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. The game's release in 2000 was very successful and helped BioWare become a major developer of role-playing games.

Gaider later worked on Neverwinter Nights (released in 2002) and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003). He wrote the characters HK-47, Jolee Bindo, and Carth Onasi. HK-47 won the 2004 Game Developers Choice Award for "Original Game Character of the Year." An expansion for Neverwinter Nights, called Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, was the first project on which Gaider served as lead writer. In this role, he planned the game's story and managed the team of writers.

Gaider became the lead writer for BioWare's new fantasy game, Dragon Age: Origins, released in 2009. He also created the world of Thedas, the setting for the Dragon Age series. He wrote the characters Zevran, Alistair, Morrigan, and Shale, as well as the quests "Nature of the Beast" and "Redcliffe." Gaider also wrote two prequel novels to Origins: The Stolen Throne and The Calling, both released in 2009. He continued as lead writer for the Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening expansion (2010) and the sequel game, Dragon Age II (2011).

In Dragon Age II, Gaider wrote the characters Cassandra Pentaghast, Fenris, and Knight-Commander Meredith. He also wrote the novel Asunder, released on December 20, 2011. In 2012, Gaider was the lead writer of The Silent Grove, a six-part comic series published by Dark Horse Comics. This was followed by two more comics, Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep, also written by Gaider.

Gaider was again the lead writer for Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third game in the Dragon Age series, released in 2014. The game won several major awards, including the prestigious DICE Award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. It was also named Game of the Year by several gaming publications, such as IGN, Game Informer, and Polygon. According to a 2015 report from Electronic Arts, Dragon Age: Inquisition was the most successful game launch in BioWare's history based on sales. In early 2015, Gaider began writing the story for Anthem. After he left BioWare, the story was rewritten.

On January 22, 2016, Gaider left BioWare after 17 years with the company. In February 2016, he announced he would become Creative Director at Beamdog, a studio known for updating older role-playing games. He left Beamdog in February 2018.

In 2019, Gaider co-founded Summerfall Studios, an independent game company based in Melbourne, Australia. The studio's first project was Chorus: An Adventure Musical, which received funding from Creative Victoria and a crowdfunding campaign on the Fig platform. As of November 10, 2019, the campaign raised $690,079 USD from 6,018 supporters. The project was later renamed Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical in 2022, with Gaider still serving as Creative Director. The game was released in August 2023.

Personal life

Gaider publicly identifies as gay. In February 2014, he wrote a post on his Tumblr blog, which is no longer active, describing his experiences as a video game developer who happens to be gay.

Works

• Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000), Interplay Entertainment Corp.
• Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (2001), Interplay Entertainment Corp.
• Neverwinter Nights (2002), Infogrames, Inc.
• Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide (2003), Atari, Inc.
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003), LucasArts
• Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark (2003), Atari, Inc.
• Dragon Age: Origins (2009), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening (2010), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Dragon Age II (2011), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Anthem (2019), Electronic Arts, Inc.
• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (2023), Summerfall Studios
• Malys (2025), Summerfall Studios

• Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne (2009)
• Dragon Age: The Calling (2009)
• Dragon Age: Asunder (2011)

• Dragon Age: The Silent Grove (2012)
• Dragon Age: Those Who Speak (2013)
• Dragon Age: Until We Sleep (2013)