Have a look at BioWare's super-swanky Service Award statues
Wouldn't you like to work at BioWare?
First things first: You can't have any of these trophies. Unless, that is, you work at Dragon Age and Mass Effect studio BioWare, which recently unveiled them on its blog. They're given to employees to reward their tenure with the company, and they are awesome.
"The BioWare Service Awards are one of the ways we show appreciation for the talent and dedication of our developers. Part of what makes our games so memorable is the staff who have long-standing connections with our characters, our worlds, and each other," the studio explained on its blog. "To recognize this, we brought these worlds to life with the creation of detailed—and surprisingly heavy—statues."
For five years of service, BioWare employees get Varric, a Surface Dwarf who appeared in Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Not a bad start.
At ten years, a statue of a smiling Urdnot Wrex is awarded. He's not actually smiling.
For 15 years, employees will take home the one and only Commander Shepard.
And finally, at 20 years, it's time for the big one: The "iconic" High Dragon of Dragon Age, rarest of all Dragonkin.
Fair to say that these are a whole lot nicer than the service awards offered by most companies, although I'm tremendously disappointed that they don't have an Irenicus statue in the mix somewhere. Then again, "You will all suffer!" probably isn't an ideal reminder of your workplace, no matter how nice it looks sitting on your mantle.
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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.