Dragon Age 4 is in active development at BioWare. There isn’t currently much known about the new sequel or when it will be released, but the current state of the game is becoming more clear. The game has already had a somewhat “troubled” development cycle, with it being restarted at least once. With recent teaser trailers and a surprising change in direction from publisher Electronic Arts, Dragon Age 4 seems to be moving forward at a more steady pace now.
News recently broke that a new iteration of Anthem has been canceled. To many gamers, this was unsurprising considering the rocky original launch of the game, coupled with an overall “lukewarm” reception from mist critics and gamers. Anthem will continue and it’s not being outright canceled, but what it is is all it will ever be. This is freeing up the responsibilities of several BioWare employees and will see them moved to other projects, such as Dragon Age 4. Beyond Dragon Age getting more staff, Anthem’s cancelation has also inspired a major decision regarding the upcoming fantasy RPG.
BioWare and EA have decided to completely scrap the multiplayer and live service elements of Dragon Age 4. Due to the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and it being a wholly single-player game, and the relative failure of Anthem, BioWare, and EA have decided to scrap the planned live service elements. This is somewhat surprising for fans, considering the surge in live service games in the past number of years. A huge portion of the Dragon Age fanbase is delighted to see this change, seeing it as a net positive for what the new game will bring to the series.
There are some hard-to-ignore positive aspects of this news. A single-player only Dragon Age means that the team can fully focus on crafting a great story. Unhampered by the necessity of a multiplayer component, BioWare will have free reign to create a story and characters that measure up to its previous work on classics like Baldur’s Gate and Mass Effect. Dragon Age 4 should benefit where Anthem has lost out now that both the developer and publisher have the advantage of hindsight, with Anthem’s shortcomings being thoroughly documented at this stage. This is only a boon for the developer, however, if it can learn from other projects that have been considered to be failures or underwhelming.
BioWare has had a string of releases that didn’t set the world on fire. Mass Effect: Andromeda had a troubled development cycle that was matched by a poor reception when it was released in 2017 (though that improved with its more recent Steam release), and Anthem’s poor reception has inspired the cancellation of live-service elements for Dragon Age 4. With no multiplayer component, BioWare has an opportunity to repair any damage that has been done to its reputation over the past number of years. The team was once considered to be a premier narrative-driven development studio, and with Dragon Age 4 now being single-player-only, the developer has an opportunity to regain some of that lost reputation.
One of the possible negative connotations is related to the seemingly troubled development cycle that Dragon Age 4 has already endured. Originally, BioWare sought to create a game that was smaller in scope and had a different vision for what the sequel would ultimately be. Electronic Arts reportedly didn’t see eye to eye with the developer on this and requested that live service elements were brought to Dragon Age 4. Right now, it’s unknown how far the live service and multiplayer elements were fleshed out, and in theory, this could complicate development depending on how far and how major these elements were.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic notwithstanding, the removal of live service mechanics could take some time depending on how developed they were. It’s unlikely to be a simple case of just cutting them out. Live service games often contain microtransactions, recurring in-game events, and multiplayer aspects, and it could take a great deal of work to cut these parts out of the game. This is the second pivotal reversal related to the development of Dragon Age 4 that BioWare has experienced and it could create a messy process, for the time being, depending on how well-developed the live service aspect has been. Perhaps it is in the best interest of BioWare to address this directly with fans to alleviate any misgivings fans might have in this regard, but it’s really hard to say for sure how far these elements were given how little is known.
It can be argued that this decision is the best course of action for BioWare. The studio’s reputation has suffered in recent years due to the lukewarm reception to high-profile games like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, so going back to the single-player drawing board is a sensible move. What it does mean as well is that games are unlikely to see BioWare take any significant creative risks for some time. The team seems to be firmly returning to its roots with Dragon Age 4 and Mass Effect 4, both of which are almost certainly large projects, meaning that there might not be much of a capacity to create other games. BioWare’s decision to re-commit to single-player experiences is music to the ears of a large group of fans, but only time will tell if it’s a move that will ultimately its creativity.
Dragon Age 4 is likely going to take some time before it will be released, especially in light of this new developmental twist. Fans have a lot to look forward to with Dragon Age 4, and it will be especially interesting to see how it plays out now that BioWare is focused on creating a single-player-only title. While most gamers see this decision as a wholly positive step, there may be some negative intricacies that develop from it. Time will tell how Dragon Age 4 plays out with its new focus on being a narrative-driven, single-player game.
Dragon Age 4 is currently in development.
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