It’s interesting to look back to see how BioWare celebrated N7 Day (November 7, forMass Effect 4) and D4 Day (December 4, forDragon Age 4) this year. The former has always been a bit more recognized by BioWare than the latter, but both are important to every dev and community member in love with either game. For N7 Day,BioWare released a new teaser for the newMass Effectgame, but nothing at that level came out for D4 Day.
That’s not to say there was nothing—BioWare revealed two new short stories, one focused on Grey Wardens and the other on Necromancers. BioWare also indicated fans would learn more about the game next year, indicatingDragon Age 4wouldn’t be at The Game Awardsas many hoped. However, there’s also one detail that should be reassuring for fans.
RELATED:Dragon Age 4 Will Be Next-Gen Only
In a blog post discussing Dragon Age Day, BioWare wrote that it is still “hard at work on building the next single-played focused experience for Dragon Age.” The emphasis on single-player here is good for fans of the franchise who may be worried about its future. For example,Dragon Age 4was once described as “Anthemwith Dragons,” and givenAnthem’s ultimate reception and cancellation, it’s not the best image.
The silver lining here is thatAnthem’s fate andStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s success for EAled to the company pushing less for live-service games, resulting inDragon Age 4abandoning any multiplayer/live-service elements. Of course, anything and everything could change in game development, especially with so little known about a title likeDragon Age 4. It’s good and reassuring to hear BioWare pushing single-player forward.
Speaking of changes inDragon Age 4,the turnover rate at BioWare has worried some fans about the future of the game. Mike Laidlaw was creative director whenDragon Age 4was in its Joplin Project-state, but that was eventually scrapped for the Morrison project. With this, Mark Darrah remained as executive producer on Morrison, while Matthew Goldman became the creative director. Darrah, alongside BioWare GM Casey Hudson, would leave at the end of 2020, with Christian Dailey assuming Darrah’s role. Now,Goldman has leftDragon Age 4, and no new creative director has yet to be named.
BioWare has reassured fans that it won’t shipDragon Age 4until it meets the company’s standards and says Goldman left the team in good hands. In this context, it’s worth mentioning that no singular person creates a game, and while turnovers can be a cause for concern, nothing here suggests that these departures are in a bad context. For now, fans will just have to wait and see whatDragon Age 4news comes in 2022, and perhaps, just maybe, fans will get to see actual story and gameplay trailers then too.
