Bioware’s last journey into the realm of Thedas was with Dragon Age: Inquisition which launched back in November of 2014. In Inquisition, we learned that Solas the elf we meet at the beginning of the game was actually an elven god named Fen’Harel and he was the one who created the Veil, separating the Fade from the mortal world.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was announced via teaser trailer during the Game Awards back in December of 2018. Two years later, in December 2020, another teaser trailer dropped with everyone’s favorite dwarf, Varric Tethras, narrating it. Fast forward to 2024, and we Dragon Age fans may not need to wait that much longer until we’re able to play Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
Industry Insider Confirms Release Date
Noted video game industry insider Jeff Grubb(not the D&D one)recently revealed in one of his YouTube videos that Bioware’s upcoming RPG, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, is slated for release in 2024. Dreadwolf is set to be the fourth game in Electronic Art’s and Bioware’s acclaimed Dragon Age franchise, which started back in 2009 with Dragon Age: Origins.
Jeff Grubb said that EA will more than likely show off Dragon Age: Dreadwolf at or around the Summer Games Fest, which Geoff Keighley will host. Grubb also notes that developer Bioware is also pretty happy with how Dreadwolf has turned out, which, as a massive Dragon Age fan, I’m both happy and excited to hear.
He also notes in the video that EA plans to launch it this calendar year and that he also thinks people won’t have to wait too long to play it after it gets announced. The Summer Games Fest live stream starts on June 7th at 2 PM PT/5 PM EST, and if you’re like me, I plan to keep my eyes glued to the live stream for any news about Dreadwolf.
Bioware Restarts Development
While Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has technically been in development for ten years, the final iteration we’re going to see/play has only been in actual development since 2021. Bioware first started work on Dreadwolf, then known as codename Joplin, back in 2015. From the sounds of it, Joplin would have been similar to Bioware’s older works with it being single-player focused and more in connection with their CRPG roots.
Joplin was in development for about two years, from 2015 to 2017, before EA ended up canceling it primarily due to it not having any space for a live service mechanic. The bulk of Joplin’s former staff was moved to work on Anthem, another live-service game that sits at a 59 on Metacritic. Considering how “well” Marvel’s Avengers and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League have done, it’s honestly shameful that EA took Bioware out of its element of single-player games to work on an awful live service game that hasn’t received any new content in years.
Mike Laidlaw, who was the creative director over at Bioware and had been working at the company since 2003, left in late 2017 at Joplin, was canceled.
Bioware Restarts Development, Again
After Joplin was canceled, a new codename for Dragon Age 4 called Morrison was created, which was intended to add live service elements into the new build of the game. That lasted until 2021 when the success of Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, developed by Respawn, convinced Electronic Arts that single-player games were still viable. As a result, Bioware removed the live service elements, and the version of Dreadwolf that was launching this year went back to being purely single-player.
After ten years of development hell and restarting development twice, the fact that everyone over at Bioware is happy with it is good news to me as a Dragon Age fan. I’m for sure looking forward to stepping into the world of Thedas again after not having a new entry for such a long time.
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