Dragon Age creator David Gaider is pitching a heist RPG that could make or break Summerfall Studios

David Gaider — the writer who built the world of Thedas and wrote half a million words for Baldur's Gate 2 — is now pitching a lighthearted heist RPG, and it might be the last roll of the dice for his studio, Summerfall Studios.

The game casts players as a crew of rogues on an airship pulling heists, which eventually spirals into something closer to a traditional RPG. Gaider describes the tone as "not full-on comedy, but something that could make me smile" — a deliberate shift from the dark sword-and-sorcery he's known for. Publishers have responded warmly to the pitch, but warm words haven't turned into contracts. Summerfall built a vertical slice and then expanded it further at publisher request, only to be told the project needs to be even further along before anyone will commit. One publisher, when asked directly whether they were essentially waiting for the game to be finished, admitted — embarrassedly, Gaider says — that yes, that was basically the situation.

Gaider co-founded Summerfall in Australia in 2017. The studio released Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical in 2023 — a Telltale-style narrative game with branching musical numbers — and Malys, a devil-themed deckbuilder, last year. Neither performed well commercially. Gaider blames Baldur's Gate 3 in part for Stray Gods underperforming: Larian moved their release date forward — a rare move in game development — and landed directly on top of Stray Gods. The broader industry context isn't helping either. Gaider says the games industry has been in a "weird contraction" for nearly three years, with publishers chasing existing IPs and near-finished projects rather than funding new ideas from smaller studios.

Gaider is candid about the stakes. He describes the heist RPG as make-or-break for Summerfall, and says seven or eight years has been "a fantastic run" — but when asked what comes next if the studio folds, he sounds less certain. "Is it even possible to find a job in the industry these days?" he asks. "Would I be competing with people of my own seniority, and begging for a job?" No release window or publisher has been announced.