Dragon Age: Origins Gets 2D Spin Off

Electronic Arts really seems eager to shed its image of being an old corporate behemoth incapable of innovating. The latest piece of proof came from the unveiling of a group called EA 2D, made up of developers that have experience with creating content in Flash, who should deliver so-called “blockbusters for the browser,” with the intent of offering publicity for a select few of EA's franchises.

The first project they will release is called Dragon Age: Journeys, set in the same world as the role playing project on which BioWare has been working for about two years. The game, entirely Flash based, will be launched towards the end of October, a few days before Origins comes out for the Xbox 360 and for the PC.

Journeys will be hex-based and tactic-oriented. The first three chapters will be called The Deep Roads and the team behind it has access to all the lore and the backstory that BioWare has developed for Dragon Age.

The main hub in The Deep Roads will be the dwarf-populated city of Orzammar, which is threatened by dark forces that players will need to protect. The Flash game has been in development for about one year. The content will probably be free but don't expect it to be as wide ranging or as complex as Dragon Age: Origins itself.

EA 2D is based on a very interesting idea and it remains to be seen what the team can do when tackling other big Electronic Arts properties. It would be nice to see Dead Space as a retro top down alien shooter or maybe an easier version of FIFA, which focuses just on the matches themselves with simplified mechanics. The team has not talked about any project other than Dragon Age: Journeys.