Dragon Age: The Veilguard
| Dragon Age 4 | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | BioWare |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Director(s) | Matthew Goldman |
| Series | Dragon Age |
| Engine | Frostbite |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | TBA |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Dragon Age 4 is an upcoming role-playing video game in development by BioWare that is to be published by Electronic Arts. It is to be the fourth main game in the Dragon Age franchise.
Development
The development of the fourth main entry in the Dragon Age series, code-named "Joplin", began in 2015 with Mike Laidlaw as its creative director. It was intended to be a smaller, more narrative-focused game set in the Tevinter Imperium region of the game's world setting, Thedas.[1]
Problems with the development of Bioware's other games Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem led to repeated interruptions as "Joplin" staff was shifted to these games. In October 2018, BioWare and its parent company Electronic Arts cancelled "Joplin" altogether, reportedly because it had no room for a "live service" component to provide ongoing monetization opportunities.[1] Several veteran Dragon Age staff, including Laidlaw, left the company in response.[1] Mark Darrah remained as an executive producer, while Matthew Goldman took over the position of creative director.[2]
Development of Dragon Age 4 was restarted under the code-name "Morrison", this time with a live-service component and based on Anthem's code.[1] It was first announced at The Game Awards in December 2018; promotional material released by BioWare since then has revealed the presence of red lyrium (a mineral substance which powers the practice of magic at the cost of a corrupting influence) and major character Solas (now known by his true identity of the Dread Wolf) as significant elements of the game's plot.[3] Two years later, a new teaser trailer was released during the 2020 edition of The Game Awards. It featured the dwarven character Varric Tethras as its narrator, as well as a brief appearance by Solas.[4][5][6]
By December 3, 2020, Darrah had resigned from BioWare, with BioWare Austin studio head Christian Dailey announced as his replacement to lead the development of the project as executive producer.[7] According to Bloomberg News, after both the success of the single-player Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and the decision to cancel the reworking of the massively multiplayer online Anthem in February 2021 following its lackluster launch, EA and BioWare opted to remove the planned multiplayer components from Dragon Age 4 and focus it as a single-player game only.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d Schreier, Jason (April 9, 2019). "The Past And Present Of Dragon Age 4". Kotaku. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ^ "A Message From Mark Darrah & Matthew Goldman - The Dread Wolf Rises". Electronic Arts. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ Liana Ruppert (November 5, 2020). "Dragon Age 4 Theory: Solas, Red Lyrium, And Blight Ambitions". Game Informer. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
- ^ Favis, Elise; Park, Gene; Klimentov, Mikhail (December 10, 2020). "'The Last of Us Part II' wins game of the year at The Game Awards, alongside new 'Mass Effect' and 'Among Us' reveals". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ Phillips, Tom (December 11, 2020). "Here's another brief look at the next Dragon Age". Eurogamer. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
- ^ Gartenberg, Chaim (December 10, 2020). "Dragon Age 4 teased yet again with a new trailer". The Verge. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
- ^ Chalk, Andy (December 3, 2020). "Mass Effect and Dragon Age heads Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah have resigned from BioWare". PC Gamer. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
- ^ Schreier, Jason (February 25, 2021). "Electronic Arts Removes Multiplayer Mode From Dragon Age Game in Big Pivot". Bloomberg News. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
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