Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is an upcoming role-playing video game being developed by BioWare and to be published by Electronic Arts. The fourth major game in the Dragon Age franchise, Dreadwolf will be the sequel to Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014).

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
Developer(s)BioWare
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
SeriesDragon Age
EngineFrostbite
Platform(s)
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

The game's development, which began in 2015, has been marked by lengthy delays, several fundamental changes in design, and high staff turnover. A release date has not yet been announced.[1][2]

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.[3]

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. This included putting "Joplin" on hold in late 2016 with development resuming in March 2017 after Andromeda shipped.[3][4] In October 2017, 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.[3][4]

Development of the game was restarted under the code-name "Morrison" in 2018, this time with a live-service component and based on Anthem's code.[3][5] According to Bloomberg News, after the success of the single-player game 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 decided to remove the planned multiplayer components from "Morrison" and to develop it as a single-player game only.[6] Alpha-stage footage leaked in February 2023 indicated that the game would use real-time action combat gameplay, influenced by God of War, unlike previous Dragon Age games.[7][8][9] Kotaku opined "it's true that Dragon Age’s most dedicated fans aren't here for the gameplay—but they still deserve a gaming experience that doesn't feel like it was grafted from a completely different genre."[7]

Staff turnover

The project has been marked by a high turnover of leading staff. Several veteran Dragon Age staff, including Laidlaw, left the company in response to Joplin's cancellation in 2017.[3] After the 2018 restart, Mark Darrah remained as an executive producer, while Matthew Goldman took over the position of creative director for the project from 2017 to 2021.[10] By December 3, 2020, Darrah had resigned from BioWare, replaced by BioWare Austin studio head Christian Dailey as executive producer.[11] Goldman left BioWare by November 2021,[5] and was replaced as Creative Director by John Epler.[12] Dailey left BioWare in February 2022.[13] Corinne Busche became game director thereafter, Benoit Houle director of product development, and Mac Walters production director.[13] Walters in turn left BioWare in January 2023.[14] In March 2023, Darrah returned as a consultant for the game and the Mass Effect team joined the production of Dreadwolf, according to EA.[15][16]

In August 2023, BioWare fired 50 people working on Dreadwolf and the next Mass Effect game.[17] In October, seven of them sued BioWare for additional compensation, complaining that BioWare's NDAs prevented them from adding their work on Dreadwolf to their portfolio.[18]

Marketing

Dragon Age 4 was announced at The Game Awards in December 2018. Promotional material showed red lyrium (a corrupted power source of magic in the game's universe) and the character Solas – the Dread Wolf – as significant elements of the game's plot.[19] Marketing on social media was focused on the tagline "The Dread Wolf Rises".[20][21][22]

In August 2020, a concept art video was released at Gamescom.[23][24][25] In December 2020, a teaser trailer featured the dwarven character Varric Tethras as narrator, as well as Solas.[26][27][28] No details on the game were released at the July 2021 EA Play event.[29][30] Jeffrey Grubb, for VentureBeat, commented that "holding back during this EA Play is just about enabling the publisher to get the game into position to begin marketing it in earnest. That will likely start in 2022".[29] Ash Parrish, for Kotaku, highlighted that given all the changes in development "Dragon Age 4 is probably not yet ready to be shown to the world" and that "BioWare has been drip-feeding fans information for years now".[30] Grubb, in a follow-up article for VentureBeat in January 2022, stated that "EA hasn't decided on when to begin marketing the project".[31][32]

In June 2022, the game’s title was announced as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.[33][34] Parrish, now for The Verge, highlighted that the title reveal for the game was "exciting for a lot of fans" because it not only makes Solas the antagonist of the upcoming game but also makes Dreadwolf a direct sequel unlike previous installments in the franchise.[35]

References
  1. Williams, Leah J. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf allegedly hit with internal delays. GamesHub. Retrieved on 18 Sept. 2023
  2. Williams, Leah J. BioWare lays off 50 employees in mass studio overhaul. GamesHub. Retrieved on 18 Sept. 2023
  3. Schreier, Jason (April 9, 2019). "The Past And Present Of Dragon Age 4". Kotaku. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  4. Stevens, Colin (April 9, 2019). "Dragon Age 4 Is Reportedly Influenced by a Canceled Dragon Age Project". IGN. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  5. Moore, Jared (November 24, 2021). "Dragon Age 4's Creative Director Has Left BioWare". IGN. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  6. Schreier, Jason (February 25, 2021). "Electronic Arts Removes Multiplayer Mode From Dragon Age Game in Big Pivot". Bloomberg News. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  7. "Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Leaks Show God Of War-Style Combat". Kotaku. February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  8. Litchfield, Ted (February 5, 2023). "Purported Dragon Age: Dreadwolf leak shows actionized combat in a part of Thedas we've never seen before". PC Gamer. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  9. DeAngelo, Daniel (February 12, 2023). "The Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Leak Points to an Ongoing Problem at BioWare". Game Rant. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  10. "A Message From Mark Darrah & Matthew Goldman - The Dread Wolf Rises". Electronic Arts. December 7, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  11. 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.
  12. BioWare -, Author- (April 14, 2022). "Developer Story: John Epler". BioWare Blog. Retrieved October 30, 2022. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  13. Chalk, Andy (February 23, 2022). "Dragon Age 4 executive producer has left BioWare". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  14. "Mass Effect veteran Mac Walters leaves BioWare after 19 years". Eurogamer.net. January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  15. "Ex-BioWare executive producer and Mass Effect team rally to finish Dragon Age: Dreadwolf". VentureBeat. March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  16. Bailey, Dustin (March 27, 2023). "As it finishes Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, BioWare brings in the Mass Effect team and former series lead Mark Darrah". GamesRadar+. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  17. "BioWare lays off around 50 employees as part of "shift towards a more agile and more focused studio"". Eurogamer.net. August 23, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  18. "Former Dragon Age staff seek further compensation following layoffs". Eurogamer.net. October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  19. Liana Ruppert (November 5, 2020). "Dragon Age 4 Theory: Solas, Red Lyrium, And Blight Ambitions". Game Informer. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  20. Gartenberg, Chaim (December 6, 2018). "EA teases Dragon Age 4 at The Game Awards". The Verge. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  21. Marshall, Cass (August 27, 2020). "Here's a very early look at the next Dragon Age". Polygon. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  22. "Dragon Age 4 Teased With First Trailer". GameSpot. December 10, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  23. Skrebels, Joe (August 27, 2020). "Dragon Age 4: First-Look Trailer Revealed at Gamescom". IGN. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  24. "Everything I, An Inquisitor Extraordinaire, Noticed In That Dragon Age 4 Gamescom Video". Kotaku. August 28, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  25. Paez, Danny (August 27, 2020). "'Dragon Age 4' Gamescom reveal highlights wild new landscapes and characters". Inverse. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  26. 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.
  27. Phillips, Tom (December 11, 2020). "Here's another brief look at the next Dragon Age". Eurogamer. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  28. Gartenberg, Chaim (December 10, 2020). "Dragon Age 4 teased yet again with a new trailer". The Verge. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  29. "Dragon Age 4 is on track for a potential 2023 release". VentureBeat. July 22, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  30. "Dragon Age Fans Have Gotten Good At Living On Crumbs". Kotaku. July 1, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  31. Grubb, Jeff (January 20, 2022). "Dragon Age 4 is still more than a year away". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  32. "Reports say there's "no chance" 'Dragon Age 4' is coming this year". NME. January 21, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  33. "Our Next Adventure — Dragon Age: Dreadwolf". BioWare Blog (Press release). June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  34. Kim, Matt (June 2, 2022). "Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Title and Logo Officially Revealed". IGN. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  35. Parrish, Ash (June 2, 2022). "BioWare reveals official title of Dragon Age 4". The Verge. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
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