Dragon Age News Thread

Lots of videogame news outlets are reporting on/running with Jeff Grubb's report and saying that DA:D is coming out before the end of March 2025.

We also have this new DA:D merch in the merch store. "Dragon Age Grey Wardens pin banner and patch"
gear.bioware.com/en-eu/products/dragon-age-grey-wardens-pin-banner-and-patch
For the logo of the Grey Wardens, it has the updated (or northern...?) Warden sigil and the addition of gold to the themeing, as in this previously seen concept art.



Meanwhile, unrelated to the above, there is this new video from Mark Darrah where he talks about the naming of BioWare games and others.

(^ Schmooples' Den! The DA News Discussion Thread )

Some more posts have surfaced from Shinobi on Resetra.

Poster: Even if the game is great can we really call it a redemption story when they've already fired a bunch of the people who made it? Like I might be a little bit of a broken record here but it's such a massive anchor weighing down any positivity I could feel about this.
Shinobi: There's still a huge team there making it... Layoffs suck ass no matter who it is of course, but many there have been at the studio since DAO and pouring their all into the game.

Poster: I think it is dishonest to pretend like the situation at Bioware over the past few years has been normal. People come and go, layoffs happen, but it's been EXTREME at Bioware. They've been bleeding talent since they started Anthem and the people who actually stuck with them through all these years were rewarded with massive layoffs of legacy staff (including many of those there since DAO or before). Like let's take that video posted earlier, from just four years ago. And that's just the people from the video. I can think of a dozen more major names that were part of Dreadwolf that have quit or been fired, including more writers that had been there since DAO. And it's worth noting that the people who were laid off in 2023 weren't given proper compensation are are currently in the process of attempting legal action. The whole situation is fucked and it's hard to not view the game as tainted. Even IF Dreadwolf turns out great, by some miracle, we can't honestly say it'll be the same team moving forward to the next one.
Shinobi: My point is that there is still a large, hard working team making the game. It feels weird to just toss everything out the window because some on the team were unfortunately let go. I've been laid off myself from a studio just last year. It sucked, really bad. But it doesn't mean you can't be happy for the people still there if their work turns out great. I'd be willing to bet you could dissect a bunch of studios across the indusry and see a lot of people leaving in the last 5 years and going elsewhere. It's not unique to Bioware. Bioware's had issues obviously, because they've gone through tumultuous development cycles with their last few games. But even with that list of people in your post, there are dozens and dozens of employees that have been at Bioware for 10, 15, 20 years and are still there trying to make a great game. Layoffs suck, there's no other way to slice it. But I don't see how holding a grudge against the game and the team rectifies anything...

Shinobi: Dreadwolf has been through some shit, no doubt about it. But it is not that unusual when you think about the specific context of the situation the game's been in. EA was going through a period of pushing live service really heavy, and that was pushed onto Bioware too (Anthem was another one), where the original game transitioned into a live service type model. That in itself led to people leaving, which is fairly understandable, which was then followed yet again by retooling everything into a single player game again, and getting it back up to snuff. That kind of tumultuous, uncertain development can of course lead to attrition.
The layoffs were egregious and detrimental, I don't think anyone here is saying otherwise. I'm certainly not. But I think people are taking up some issue with you kind of inferring that because a certain chunk of the team is gone, it's no longer the same team whatsoever and thus there is no 'redemption arc' and it's hard to feel good about the game. People use that phrase because they're simply just talking about Bioware games as a whole, they're not really hyper analyzing the internals of studios. The studio's had some misses the last several years, so if Dreadwolf comes out and turns out to be a resounding success, that's at least worthy of praise? That they're hoping for that outcome. If you can't agree to that then it's ok, we can agree to disagree. I dunno.
On a side note too, Patrick Weekes may have implied that, but like...Bioware is made up of hundreds of people. It's not some hivemind. His is just one opinion and he's more than allowed to have it obviously. But I've also talked to multiple people on the team, ranging from positive to hopeful to 'things aren't as bad as it's made out to be' to more negative. Especially now with Connie Booth leading, there's positive momentum hopefully moving forward.
It's also tiresome to keep reading that everyone's left and Bioware's no longer made of the people that made their games great so don't expect anything good. And since people like to make lists of people that left or were laid off, let's look at many others are still there and trying to make a good game:
Ben McGrath (lead artist since DAO): Still there
John Epler (narrative/creative and like you said, since before DAO): Still there
Steve Middleton (animation since DA2): Still there
Brenon Holmes (programmer/technical design lead since BG2): Still there
Tim Golem (cinematic director since DAO): Still there
Matt Rhodes (art director, since DAO): Still there
Scylla Costa (producer, since ME2): Still there
Shane Hawco (character design, since KOTOR): Still there
Brianne Battye (senior writer, since before DAI): Still there
Brian Audette (senior designer, since SWTOR): Still there
And that's just very, very quickly browsing through the studio. The list would be a lot longer if I kept going. Yes, many talented OG people aren't there anymore, but it's so disingenuous for people (not you personally) to imply like the studio's just a husk and can't make good games anymore. And that's not even taking into accout that there are tons of people hired from other awesome studios like Sucker Punch, Respawn, 343, etc working there. There's a lot of talent on the team.
Poster: I think this is a very easy thing to say because yes of course the past year has been fucked for basically every company. But when I pinpoint a specific example of something that is egregiously worse than usual and has been since BEFORE this big wave of layoffs lately and the response I get is to tell me I'm wrong because there are still people working there, so it's totally fine and I shouldn't "throw everything out the window" it's like... come on.
Shinobi: I never implied that it's totally fine. I think I've been pretty adamant that it hasn't been actually. But I also feel like it should be ok for people to want the game to be a success and for the studio to continue existing and making games, that's all.

Shinobi: I think the game will have a contingent of detractors undoubtedly that are still clinging to the Bioware of 20+ years ago making CRPGs, but I don't know what else to say at this point lol. Like, come on, it's time to move on really. It's an action RPG studio and has been for well over a decade.

Poster: We should just be grateful to be getting AAA singleplayer RPGs at all these days lol
Poster: This is honestly so true. BioWare existing and making the games that they do are such a highlight to me imo. Games like this are so incredibly difficult to make it's a miracle they come out at all.
Shinobi: Spot on actually. A person I talked to on the team not long ago highlighted that specifically. The fact that a studio like Bioware can still make a big budget strictly single player RPG under the umbrella of EA is significant, and that if people want to see that continue and support those kinds of games, well, there's only one do that obviously.

Poster: Do you think Mass Effect will be made regardless of how Dreadwolf does, or will Dreadwolf impact whether ME goes forward?
Shinobi: I think there will undoubtedly be an effect if Dreadwolf doesn't meet sales expectations. Just the nature of the business sadly. Whether it completely stops ME, I'm not sure.

Can you people discuss stuff in discussion thread and not news thread, please? Thanks.

Dragon Age Inquisition is free on Epic Games Store!

Amy Evans @amypisces.bsky.social
Hey @trickweekes.bsky.social

Can you help settle a debate? Is there an etymological link between "Elvhen" and "vhenan"? Or is it a coincidence/something you guys didn't think of when coming up with a language.

Totally understand if you don't want to answer.

Trick Weekes @trickweekes.bsky.social
"Vhen" as a base means something like "essence of people." "Elvhen" is the ancient term for the elven people, and "vhenan" means heart, kind of the center of a person.

see this post - link

Don't expect big reveals at Summer Games Fest, says Geoff Keighley




We can rule out Mass Effect at SGF, which wasn't something anyway should have ruled in the first place anyway.
Just wanted to share in case for Dreadwolf, as Geoff still states there will be new announcements and he specifically states examples of 2026 and beyond, while we expect Dreadwolf this year and at worst case early next year.

new dreadwolf game merch came in the store. gear.bioware.com/en-eu/products/dragon-age-magnetic-headset-holder

x.com/bjaudette/status/1798799690424619029


Brian J. Audette

@bjaudette

For those who don't know, this is what I've been working on for the last 3 and a half years with literally one of the best teams I've led in my entire career 20+ year career. I can't wait until you see what we've been making!

A new icon was just uploaded to the Steam database...