Game Rant Reports: The criticism of Dragon Age: The Veilguard becoming "woke" is uninformed, series creator David Gaider has suggested, all the while labeling those who propagate it as "tourists." His rebuttal is just the latest development in the culture wars that have recently encompassed the upcoming Dragon Age game.

Multiple popular online boards, including The Veilguard's Steam Discussions forum, have lately been flooded with criticism about the fourth entry in the long-running franchise being "woke." Some of the posters contributing to this wave of complaints seem to have taken issue with Dragon Age: The Veilguard's companions being canonically pansexual, arguing that this attempt at offering diverse romance options robs them of personality. Others appear to be irked by the game's diverse cast of characters for various stated reasons.

Dragon Age series creator David Gaider has recently opted to respond to some of these complaints by remarking how "the usual suspects are upset at how 'woke' the new Dragon Age is, an apparently sudden and unexpected development in the series." Following up on that train of thought, the industry veteran called the people who spread this sentiment "f*****g tourists" in a recent Bluesky post.

The label was meant to imply that these critics are falsely presenting themselves as Dragon Age fans, who would know that the series could have been categorized as "woke" from its very first entry, which hit the market back in 2009.

In a subsequent interaction with another Bluesky user, Gaider clarified that he has no issues with people liking or disliking whatever they have seen from the upcoming Dragon Age game so far. His initial comment was intended to counter the notion that The Veilguard introduces a new level of "wokeness" to the franchise.​​​