Dragon Age 4, or whatever it ends up being called, was first officially unveiled way back in 2018, though according to insider reports, development has more recently been rebooted to build a fully single-player game. Either way, bits of new information have been few and far between, and today BioWare has provided an update – alongside news of a senior departure from the team.
Executive producer Christian Dailey is leaving BioWare. “The next Dragon Age is in great hands,” Dailey says in a tweet. “Looking forward to cheering on the team and playing as a fan. Please follow my friends on the latest and greatest moving forward.” In a follow-up, Dailey adds that “the Dragon Age team is killing it and the game is in amazing hands. Don’t fall for the hate. Lots of positivity, can’t wait for when they can share more.”
The new Dragon Age has completed the concept and pre-production phases of development, and is now “right in the middle of production”, as the devs explain in a blog post. “Our blueprint was completed last year, so we’re now focused on building out our vision: creating amazing environments, deep characters, strong gameplay, impactful writing, emotional cinematics – and much more. The blueprint for the game is well understood and the team is focused.”
There’s not much in the way of concrete new details here, but “later this year, you will start to hear more from the Dragon Age team in the form of blogs and social content.”
I want to reiterate that the Dragon Age team is killing it and the game is in amazing hands. Don't fall for the hate. Lots of positivity, can't wait for when they can share more.
— Christian Dailey (@ChristianDailey) February 23, 2022
The Mass Effect team, meanwhile, is “actively prototyping new ideas and experiences. AAA next-gen games take a long time to make – and we know our fans may want them sooner. But our number one priority needs to be quality, and that simply takes time to get it right.”
The Dragon Age 4 release date is still a long way off – insider reports currently suggest that the game’s on track for an initial release target in 2023 – and it sounds like the new Mass Effect is even further out.