'Dragon Age 4' gets a disappointing release date window from EA
Strap in, gamers. It's going to be a long wait.
Fans of BioWare’s fantasy role-playing series Dragon Age have been starved on new updates since the final morsel of downloadable content was released for Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2015. And it seems like they’ll need to wait another three years for Dragon Age 4.
Mega-studio Electronic Arts announced on Tuesday that the next entry of the game won’t arrive until after March 2022. That’s a year later than BioWare — the series’ developer — previously said back in 2018 when the studio revealed plans for a 2018 release.
“You should assume that there is Dragon Age out there,” said EA chief operating officer Blake Jorgensen. “We’ve talked about it publicly that it’s in the works, and it probably comes after in [fiscal year 2022].”
Despite further delays, BioWare confirmed in September that progress is being made on the fourth Dragon Age installment, which will be titled Dragon Age: The Dread Wolf Rises. This update came as a relief to fans after not receiving an update on the upcoming title nine months after its teaser trailer was shown at the 2018 Game Awards in Los Angeles.
The game’s development is at least partially impeded by BioWare’s complicated relationship with its parent company EA. The entities have butted heads about financial goals and the type of games fans expect from the developer, reported Kotaku in April.
The clashing led to multiple interruptions and complete overhauls in the game’s development process. Creative director for the title, Mike Laidlaw parted ways with BioWare in October 2017, plus the development team was forced to shift focus to the company’s other games, like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem in 2018. But Dragon Age 4 has finally found its footing.
Development for the game was started back up under the codename “Morrison,” reported Kotaku. The team is building the game from Anthem’s codebase and has been planned to include a live service component as a focal point.
Fans might need to wait much longer than they anticipated for Dragon Age: The Dread Wolf Rises but there seems to be a dedicated team behind it with clear intentions to make it shine.
Dragon Age 4 is expected to release no earlier than March 2022.
