With Summer Game Fest taking place this weekend, EA kicked off the festivities by dropping a major announcement: Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has a new name.
As revealed by BioWare in a blog post today, the new title for the highly anticipated game is Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Dragon Age 4 was first announced in 2018, and revealed as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in 2022. But development on the game reportedly started back in 2015. The game's production was marred by lengthy delays, fundamental changes in design, and reportedly high staff turnover. BioWare General Manager and Drago Age Executive Producer Gary McKay sort of addressed these issues in today's post.
After Dragon Age: Inquisition launched, the studio was given an incredible opportunity to explore, test, and validate a variety of gameplay concepts as we worked to determine what the next Dragon Age could look like. We brought everything to the table which, yes, even included a multiplayer concept. The time we spent experimenting and iterating gradually taught us a lot. This work, and the amazing support from EA, helped us re-focus on creating an incredible single player game, with all the choices, characters and world building you’d expect from us.
McKay also provided some insight into the game's design, offering a broad overview of what players can expect from Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
At BioWare, we create worlds of adventure, conflict and companionship, where you’re at the center of it all. As fans of our franchise know, every Dragon Age game has delivered a new standalone story. Set in the world of Thedas, these tales explore epic locales and threats, always thrusting you into a new conflict. Each game also introduces a new lead hero – The Warden, Hawke, The Inquisitor – that you can call your own. You can expect all that, and more, with the new game. And of course, much like your unique hero, it wouldn’t be a Dragon Age game without an amazing cast of companions – right?
Each of the seven unique characters that make up your companions will have deep and compelling storylines where the decisions you make will impact your relationships with them – as well as their lives. You’ll unite this team of unforgettable heroes as you take on a terrifying new threat unleashed on the world. Naturally, the Dread Wolf still has an important part in this tale, but you and your companions – not your enemies – are the heart of this new experience.
With this in mind, BioWare felt the new title better reflects what Dragon Age 4 is all about. We'll get an even better idea next week when EA and BioWare finally reveal the first gameplay footage.
BioWare confirmed that the first Dragon Age: The Veilguard footage will be revealed on Tuesday, June 11th at 8:00 a.m. PT. The reveal will feature over 15 minutes of gameplay from the opening moments of the game.
Now that BioWare has settled on a title and is ready to reveal gameplay, it seems like previous reports of the game launching this year may be true. During EA's earnings report back in May, the publisher made note of two unannounced titles releasing in FY25 (ending March 31, 2025). One is a partner title expected in Q4, while the other is an owned IP title.
Eurogamer's Tom Phillips reported that the owned IP title is Dragon Age, and even went on to claim that the game would be revealed during the summer. Suddenly, this report has a bit more credence.