Bioware's Dragon Age is a beloved role-playing game franchise created and developed by Bioware. All three games in the series feel distinctly different from one another and run the gamete in terms of critical reception and praise from the fans.
The 4th installment in the series is a game players have been clamoring for from Bioware for years now. With Bioware's recent lack of success, Dragon Age 4 is a make or break moment for the studio. Let's now take a look at everything we know about Bioware's Dragon Age 4, so far.
10 Bioware Developed
It may seem like a no brainer that the fourth installment in the Dragon Age series is being developed by the studio who created it, but that's not the case. Electronic Arts as a publisher has a track record of closing once lauded developers and giving their IP over to other in-house studios.
Bioware as a developer is currently coming off of back-to-back misses in both Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda and fans became worried about their future. Now that is been confirmed they're working on Dragon Age 4, fans are hoping its a return to form for the studio.
9 The Teases Have Begun
Whether it be the brief teaser trailer at the 2018 Game Awards or subtle hints by project leads, it seems like the lead up to an official reveal has begun in the last few years. Now, this doesn't mean you should expect to see anything about the game by the time E3 2020 rolls around.
At the same time, however, it's unclear what EA as a publisher wants to do when it comes to next-generation consoles. With the right opportunity, either Xbox or PlayStation might want another glimpse at Dragon Age 4 to be a part of the reveal of their next-gen consoles.
8 Meaningful Companions
Dragon Age as a franchise has deviated and tried experimental things throughout the series when it comes to core gameplay and the role-playing game elements involved, but there is one thing that has always remained consistent, meaningful companions.
In a way that's Bioware's winning formula as they've created multiple games in which fans have fallen in love with the cast of characters, they get to fight alongside. If there's one thing you can count on with Dragon Age 4, it's that it will have some well-rounded and fully developed companion characters.
7 Solas Returns
The teaser for Dragon Age 4 seemed a little vague and shallow on the surface for most people, but a dive into the history of the franchise and its lore provided plenty of clues. Solas, a character from Dragon Age: Inquisition, was featured in the trailer and offered a line of dialogue that hinted at his path in the upcoming game.
The teaser showed a red lyrium idol that featured a wolf sandwiched between two elves. It seems that whatever ends up happening with the Dread Wolf, the old bald elf from Dragon Age's last title may play a big role.
6 Live Service Elements
This will likely be the entry that scares a lot of people about the future of Dragon Age 4, but let's all take a deep breath. Despite this sounding like the RPG franchise will resemble Anthem, Bioware has stated that's not what this means.
In reality, it just means that they want the game to have elements that let it live on after it initially releases. They want to have elements of the game that have fans coming back to experience more of the world they love. It'll be interesting to see what these are beyond story-based downloadable content and cosmetics for players and their companions.
5 Fully Next-Gen
Given that the game has only received a minor teaser with some art assets it's safe to assume the game isn't releasing any time soon. With next-gen consoles in both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 set to release in Holiday 2020, Bioware will likely be focused on using the power and tools provided by this new hardware to make the best game possible.
During the first year or two of a new console generation, publishers tend to release on both new and old platforms as install bases grow, but with Dragon Age 4 at least 2 years out, you might want to start saving for a next-gen console to play it.
4 Bioware's Future Depends On It
As scary as it sounds, Dragon Age 4 might dictate the direction and future of Bioware as a developer. EA is a publisher that has never been shy about closing down development studios, even if the failures of the studio was EA's fault.
Fans are hoping to one day see a new mainline Mass Effect game, but if Dragon Age 4 follows both Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda as both critical and commercial failures, they may never even get the opportunity to tackle another game in any of their universes.
3 The Dread Wolf Rises
The Dread Wolf rising is a pretty big deal when it comes to the lore of Dragon Age and the repercussions of such an event. The namesake Dread Wolf refers to an elven god named Fen'Harel, who acts most similar to the trickster God of Norse Mythology, Loki.
This god has strong ties to Solas, from Dragon Age: Inquisition, who was mentioned previously talked about in an earlier entry. Fans have picked apart the teaser trailer and come up with their theories. One theory, by Reddit user Nouvlesse suggests quite a bit about how the Dread Wolf may play into the story of the fourth game.
2 Currently In Development
Like the fact that Bioware is developing it, this may also seem like a no-brainer, when it shouldn't. The fact that there is solid confirmation that a new Dragon Age title is in development should not be taken for granted.
With Bioware's recent history the studio could have easily been closed or moved into a role as a support studio for other developers. EA has a long list of dormant franchises that have remained that way even despite fervent fans' desire to see them return. Let's just hope that Dragon Age 4 shows the importance and staying power of the IP.
1 Releasing After April 2022
In an earnings call with their stakeholders, EA confirmed that a new Dragon Age title was in development, but that it wouldn't release before their 2022 fiscal year. This means that the earliest we can expect the game to release is April 2022, which would be almost two years into the next-generation console's life cycles.
The way announcements and reveals go, this, in turn, means that fans shouldn't expect anything substantial to be shown and/or revealed until 2021. An appearance at a 2020 console reveal event would be nice, just don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen.