BioWare™ has today announced the Dragon Age: Origins Wardens’ Quest, a 24-hour gaming contest to celebrate the launch of Dragon Age: Origins. The competition will start at 10:00 GMT on October 28th, when ten teams of four from North America and Europe will embark on a 24-hour quest with the ultimate aim of winning$12,000 each per team member.

“We’re extremely excited about the Dragon Age: Origins Wardens’ Quest – it’s going to be an awesome chance for gamers to band together to prove they’re the best at navigating the world of Dragon Age,” said Mark Darrah, executive producer, Dragon Age: Origins. “In the game, putting together a strong team is essential to success. In the same way, the overall strength of the competing teams will decide who walks away with the money.”

The ten teams hail from the US, Canada, UK , France, Holland and Belgium, Spain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and a special team comprising BioWare fans from around the world. The contest will take place in London at the Debating Chamber at County Hall, on the banks of the River Thames.

RPG devotees will recognise BioWare as the company responsible for such classics as Baldur’s Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™ and Mass Effect™. Dragon Age: Origins is being cited as being the logical successor to Baldur’s Gate, and is touted on the website as being “an epic tale of violence, lust and betrayal.”

“The Dragon Age: Origins development team was able to polish the PlayStation 3 version to our high standard of quality and we are ready to deliver the richest and deepest role-playing fantasy experience,” said Ray Muzyka, group general manager, RPG/MMO Group of EA and co-founder of BioWare.

Dragon Age: Origins is released on PS3 on 3rd November in North America and 20th November in PAL territories. It has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB and 18+ by PEGI.

Learn more about the competition and follow the action live at www.wardensquest.com