Dragon Age: Acquisition will not feature characters as downloadable content because the structure of the game would mean characters would need to be stored on the disc, BioWare creative director Mike Laidlaw has told OXM.

“Because of how deeply enmeshed in the system companion characters are, we can’t just add them on the fly, part of them has to be shipped on the disc,” Laidlaw explained, in part. “Which has led to criticism that we’re forcing people to pay for content they already own.”

“It’s not the case, but we’ve decided this time to not go that route. There will be no DLC party members.”

As a result, the game will feature nine possible party members for the game’s entire lifespan. Six of the possible companions have been confirmed so far – Cassandra Pentaghast, former Seeker of the Chantry; Varric, Dwarf rogue; Vivienne, a powerful mage; Sera, an Elven archer; Iron Bull, a one-eyed Qunari mercenary; and Solas, an Elven mage.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is set for a Fall 2014 release on the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

(via CVG)