Mark Darrah on the Fade in Dragon Age: Origins: cut it or split it up

According to the summary of his TikTok video, Darrah said he would rather remove the section entirely or split it into smaller, more manageable pieces.

Kotaku describes the Fade in Dragon Age: Origins as one of the game’s most divisive sections.

What happened

Kotaku reported on September 23, 2026, that Mark Darrah responded to questions about the Dragon Age series in a TikTok video. In that video, he was asked what he would add to or remove from the games, and the publication focused in particular on his comments about Dragon Age: Origins.

For Dragon Age: Origins, Darrah named the Fade as the first point of change. The report says he shares the criticism of that section and would rather cut it entirely, or otherwise break it into smaller parts. The source does not provide a full transcript of the video, so only the core of his response is confirmed, not the exact wording of every answer.

The available information does not include a full transcript of the video. As a result, only Darrah’s comment specifically about the Fade is certain, along with the fact that he saw that section as a problem area. Kotaku places that response in the context of a broader question about what he would change in the Dragon Age games, but the supplied information does not mention concrete details about other sections or other games from the same video.

Background

Mark Darrah is described in the source as a former BioWare developer who was involved with the first three Dragon Age games. The supplied information does not specify his exact role on each game, but the source clearly places him as one of the key names behind the franchise during his BioWare years.

Dragon Age: Origins was the first entry in the series. The Fade is a well-known story section in the game that Kotaku says is among its most controversial parts. The source does not describe the Fade as a small or optional element, but as a section that often comes up in discussions about the game. That makes Darrah’s choice to name it first especially notable in the context of his video.

The source does not mention any concrete alternatives Darrah suggested for other Dragon Age entries. It also does not confirm which other parts he discussed in the same TikTok video. What is clear is that the question in the video was broader, asking what he would add to or remove from the Dragon Age games, and that Kotaku’s reporting then focused on his answer about Origins and the Fade.

Sources

• Kotaku, article about Mark Darrah’s comments on the Fade in Dragon Age: Origins, September 23, 2026.