BioWare chief Casey Hudson really wants to make a new Dragon Age role-playing game, so BioWare is doing exactly that. Sure, the studio continues to focus on Anthem. That cooperative online sci-fi shooter is due out February 22, and it has an alpha test starting this week, December 8. But Hudson wants to make sure you know that his team hasn’t forgotten about its roots — even if it may take until 2021 for you to return to them.
That led Hudson to post the following on the official BioWare blog, which he writes himself:
“If you’ve been following these blogs, or myself and Mark Darrah on Twitter, you know we’re also working on some secret Dragon Age stuff. Dragon Age is an incredibly important franchise in our studio, and we’re excited to continue its legacy. Look for more on this in the coming month (though I won’t tell you where to look …).”
It’s The Game Awards. You should look during The Game Awards. On Thursday night, EA and BioWare will show off something about Dragon Age at The Game Awards.
But what is the studio going to show from the next entry in its fantasy role-playing games? Well, the more interesting question is this: Does it even have anything to show?
Dragon Age is still very early
Dragon Age 4 — or whatever name it’ll carry — is at least three years away, according to sources familiar with the studio. That timeline could change, but that is the current expectation at EA. BioWare and EA have not even settled on a name for the new Dragon Age — although that is something they could decide in preparation for a reveal at The Game Awards.
And this is not new for Dragon Age. The game has spent more than a year in limbo at EA.
In January, I reported that BioWare pushed aside Dragon Age to focus on Anthem. The studio started pre-production on a new Dragon Age, but EA threw out most of that work. At that time, the publisher was shifting its games to live services. That Dragon Age project wasn’t going to fit into that business model. As a result of that reboot, Dragon Age writer Mike Laidlaw — who had an outline prepared for the new game — left BioWare.
Following those events, the developer has not put a substantial amount of work into a new Dragon Age. BioWare needs a hit, so the entire studio is putting its efforts into ensuring a successful launch for Anthem.
So then why does Dragon Age keep coming up, and why does EA plan to talk about it in some capacity at The Game Award? That’s likely due to the passion that BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah and Hudson have for the series. And they are determined to ensure fans of the series recognize that passion within BioWare as well.
Source: VentureBeat
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