DA4 Won't Come Out Until 2021??

In this case they were talking about the New IP being released in FY 2019, which is from April 1st, 2018 to March 30th, 2019. So it may very well still arrive in 2018.

That said, this delay may impact DA4 as the last we heard, over half the DA team was helping out on the New IP. We'll just have to wait and see if we get any other tidbits of info on this...

I'm still betting on 2020 for Dragon Age 4. There's a fair chance that The Game Currently Known As Dylan will make it out in the second half of 2018, which will free up resources for DA4 production.

well in case of video games one of the few times i recall the estimation was right was kotor 2 and we all know how that turned out. which is a shame cause it had potential to be better than the original.



now to address the subject of the OP, it means nothing about dragon age since they never said it will only be released after the new IP. and we yet to have any info on that regard. anyway, i'll wait as long as i have to, as long as they don't rush anything i'm good.

Bioware developed ME:A alongside the Secret IP, I wouldn't be surprised if they shifted staff over to Dragon Age when ME:A was winding down.

I hope they have. For something that's supposed to have a continuing story, I think having big gaps between releases is unhealthy.

Missed that. Gotta go look for news. 

Why do their games take so much longer these days (since DAI)? Kotor came out in 2003 and only 2 years later a new IP Jade Empire was released. Then only 2 years later another new IP Mass Effect was released. Followed again 2 years later by yet another new IP Dragon Age Origins. Then sequels released in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. If DA4 is just a sequel why should it take 7 years?

More VO, more delicate technology, more localizations?

Better tech is probably the big one, actually. The more realistic the graphics get, the more jarring minor mistakes become, which means a lot more work for artists and QA. The better hardware gets, the more unique configurations they have to build for. The better engines get, the more high-performance tweaks they have, which makes them less stable (like a racecar vs. a family sedan). The more online/multiplayer elements there are, the more networking edge cases they have to check. The more varied choices get, the more permutations they have to account for - and that number grows exponentially.

And "choices" can even be something as simple as being able to jump. Jumping means having to check the levels with fine-toothed combs to make sure there are no jump-able areas that shouldn't be accessible by jumping (and, conversely, that all jump-able areas remain jump-able). Or, in Bioware's case specifically, having to account for previous game choices, a number which also grows exponentially with each previous game.

This isn't happening in a vacuum. One of the things that made old-school games so good was the fact that they went for prices that would, in current dollars, be closer to $100 than $60. And while, yes, the audience has gotten much bigger, the tech has also gotten waaaaaay more complex/fragile. Software devs continue to be in high demand, so the cost of their salaries has had to rise too (otherwise some non-videogame company will snap them up). And in AAA games, the tech arms race continues to accelerate, with each new game measured against the strongest features of its competitors (i.e. "why wasn't your X as good as <other game's> X?" while completely ignoring that <other game's> Y was less developed)

Singleplayer gamers strongly resist any rise in price, even to match inflation. They also complain about DLCs. They certainly won't countenance any microtransactions. Multiplayer gamers are more receptive to all that. If EA doesn't go after them, some other company will, and the infusion of cash will give the other company a huge leg up on technology/graphics/etc. Then we'd be shaking our fists at that company instead of EA.

To its credit, EA seems to be using multiplayer to subsidize the singleplayer games, rather than replace them outright. Kind of like how Pixar churns out Cars sequels to help bankroll its more artistic movies. As soulless as people might imagine corporate overlords to be, they hire people. Even from a purely selfish perspective, if they don't let those people make stuff they're passionate about, they'll lose them to another company that does. It makes business sense to greenlight even "less profitable" games if that helps them retain/attract talent.

It makes me wonder now about all the talent that has left, not least David Gaider. The major creative impetus behind DA universe. Maybe he found out that he would have to churn out Dylan or wait on the sidelines for x amount of years before being able to continue his project in DA and just said the hell with it.

He now works in a smaller company that lets him work on his dream project (with mixed results). But I have to wonder if this is why so many well known talents have left in the last 5 years. Would they want to slog through making soulless clones of Destiny or Division, when they have an existing mythos they want to expand and improve on? As in half a decade or more?
I'm betting patience runs kind of thin at that point. So they bail. Ultimately it's our loss.

I'll be 30 in 2020, 30 still sounds so far away! (But fear not, my 30th birthday will probably come faster than I think, and therefore so will DA4)

A 7 year gap honestly sounds like too much. I'm all for extended development time, and they definitely shouldn't rush it, but with how Trespasser ended, and how amazingly it set up the next game, you'd think that they wouldn't let us wait for that long. Even the gap between ME3 and MEA wasn't that long, and ME seemed like a finished franchise by the end of 3.