Dragon Age 4 is a story-driven single-player RPG from veteran developer BioWare. Revealed all the way back in 2018, fans have had to subsist off of morsels of teaser content in preparation for the title’s eventual release. We do, at least, know the game’s title: Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
The Dragon Age saga tells a sprawling dark fantasy epic, spanning multiple titles and delving into compelling political and philosophical themes. The series is renowned for treating players to well-written characters, thinky RPG combat, and difficult moral choices. Though we don’t have many story details confirmed yet, it’s safe to assume that Dreadwolf will place us into some pretty challenging predicaments.
We don’t yet have a launch date sorted, but, if we had to guess, we’d say that late 2023 is the earliest we could possibly see Dreadwolf release. In the meantime, we at TechRadar Gaming have done our best to locate every available crumb of information for your reading pleasure.
Dragon Age 4: cut to the chase
- What is it? The fourth installment in the RPG franchise, Dragon Age
- What can I play it on? TBC (Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC are likely)
- When can I play it? TBC (late 2023 or later seems most likely)
Dragon Age 4: Dreadwolf release date and platforms
Despite the fact that the game’s development had long been an open secret, Dragon Age 4 was only officially announced by BioWare a couple of years ago. Since then, BioWare has kept its cards pretty close to its chest. Neither a release date nor a release window has been announced.
Author Jeff Grubb stuck by his 2023 estimate in a February 2022 episode of his GiantBomb video series GrubbSnax (opens in new tab). In that, Grubb said that the game is in “very good shape” but that it’s “still at least 18 months out” and suggested that we may not get our hands on it until “maybe late 2023” at the earliest.
Shortly after this report, BioWare posted an official development update (opens in new tab), stating that the game is “right in the middle of production” and promised further updates “later this year”. Basically, it looks like the game won’t be with us until later in 2023 at the earliest.
Platforms haven’t been officially confirmed yet. Given its release date seems to be a while off and a Gamescom 2020 clip made mention of “next-generation technology”, it’s likely that Dragon Age 4: Dreadwolf will skip PS4 and Xbox One, coming to PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC instead.
Dragon Age 4: Dreadwolf trailers
Latest trailer
In-game cinematic
Back in December 2022 BioWare released an in-game cinematic from Dragon Age Dreadwolf. In the trailer, we hear fan-favorite bard Varric Tethras give his account of the story of the Dread Wolf, or, to use the name of his mortal form: Solas. Over the course of his tale, Varric tells us how Solas separated the Fade (the realm of magic) from reality by creating a Veil between the two.
Unfortunately, it looks like Solas has ideas about, tearing down the Veil, destroying the world, and ushering in an apocalypse. On top of that, it looks like “we’re the only ones who can stop him.”
More trailers
The two other Dragon Age: Dreadwolf trailers can be found on the official Dragon Age YouTube channel (opens in new tab). These include the teaser trailer (opens in new tab) from the 2018 Game Awards as well as the second teaser (opens in new tab) featured during the 2020 Game Awards.
Dragon Age 4: Dreadwolf story and setting
BioWare hasn’t confirmed the exact storyline for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf just yet but that title and the game’s trailer makes one thing clear: Solas is going to be involved somehow. This time as the main antagonist. Now, we’ve put together a guide on exactly who Solas is for those keen on digging into the details but suffice it to say he’s a murky character who made a strong impression in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
This is BioWare’s description (opens in new tab) of him: “Solas, the Dread Wolf. Some say he might be an ancient elven god, but some say not. Others say a betrayer of his people…or a savior who now seeks to rescue them at the cost of your world. His motives are inscrutable and his methods sometimes questionable, earning him a reputation as something of a trickster deity—a player of dark and dangerous games.”
Intriguing, right? The return of Solas as well as characters like Varric certainly suggests that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf’s story will pick up not too long after Dragon Age: Inquisition. However, like all the previous games in the series, it’ll see players step into a brand new protagonist’s shoes with the official website stating, “Thedas needs a new hero; one they’ll never see coming.”
New heroes and fresh starts make sequels accessible and we also know that playing Dragon Age: Inquisition isn’t going to be a prerequisite for getting stuck into Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, as BioWare has confirmed (opens in new tab) that “if you’re new to Dragon Age, you have no need to worry about not having met our antagonist just yet. He’ll properly introduce himself when the time is right”.
Dragon Age 4: Dreadwolf news
Alpha milestone reached
In the latest Dragon Age 4 blog update, published in October 2022, GM Gary McKay revealed the game has reached its Alpha Milestone, meaning it is now playable from start to finish. But the game “is not finished by any means”, and the studio is now focused on polishing narrative and gameplay features.
“First and foremost, we can now turn our sights toward bringing the visual fidelity to its final form and iterating on gameplay features,” McKay wrote in the blog. “The big question now is, “Where do we focus our efforts?” To answer that, we solicit feedback from a number of sources, including our Community Council members who each have unique perspectives and experiences, our quality verification team, and extensive internal playtesting. Gathering feedback from multiple sources gives us the greatest insight on where we need to spend more time improving the experience.
“Additionally, we can now evaluate the game’s pacing, how relationships evolve over time, and the player’s progression, as well as narrative cohesion – essentially how the story comes together. We can take the story we’ve written and see if we’re expressing it well through the characters, dialogue, cinematics, and ultimately, the player’s journey. Now that we have the ability to do a complete playthrough, we can iterate and polish on the things that matter most to our fans.”
Characters will have “more personality”
BioWare gave a brief community update on Dragon Age 4 in an April 2022 blog post as part of the developer’s efforts “to further pull back the curtain for a more transparent look into the process of making the games you love”.
In the post (opens in new tab), Dragon Age technical director Maciej Kurowski says that a principal of the game’s development has been to have “the right tools that best fit our game” so that “developers are able to be at their most creative”.
Kurowski adds that he “can’t wait to talk more about some of the interesting things we have done on the tech side for Dragon Age. We take characters very seriously and do a lot of work to give them more personality than they have ever had in the past.”
Though he couldn’t reveal any more than that, Kurowski says more will be revealed “over time” and that “it’s shaping up to be something amazing.”
Dragon Age 4 was “in the middle of production” in February 2022
Back in February 2022, BioWare posted a development update (opens in new tab) on Dragon Age 4, describing it as being “in the middle of production.”
In the post, BioWare general manager Gary McKay said that there are “are a few different stages to a game’s development” and that Dragon Age 4 was, at that time, “right in the middle of production”. “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,” McKay wrote. “The blueprint for the game is well understood and the team is focused.”
McKay went on to announce that the game’s executive producer, Christian Dailey, was leaving BioWare. With Dailey’s departure, McKay explained that “a strong leadership team of industry and Dragon Age veterans is in place to carry us through production and beyond.” Mac Walters, who led development on Mass Effect Legendary Edition, is production director; Dragon Age design director, Corrine Busche, is game director; and long-time Dragon Age team member, Benoit Houle, is director of product development. McKay said that he will also be working closely with the team.
“Built on choices that matter”
In a brief update on the development of Dragon Age 4 in January 2022, BioWare general manager Gary McKay dropped a small, but substantial, detail about Dragon Age 4.
“We have a veteran group of talented developers working on the next iteration of the franchise,” McKay wrote. “We are focused on a single-player experience that is built on choices that matter.”
The details also came alongside further comments, in which McKay emphasized how the game is being developed to rebuild goodwill among the studio’s long-time fans, with many having been left disappointed by the studio’s most recent releases.
“When I took on the GM role, I talked about rebuilding our reputation, and that remains a huge priority,” he wrote. “We are laser-focused on building back the trust of our fans and community, and we plan to do that by delivering the types of games that we are best known for and ensuring they are of the highest quality.“
McKay went on to say that he wants future BioWare releases, like Dragon Age 4, to represent “seminal moments in the industry” that garner similar reactions that last year’s Mass Effect Legendary Edition received.
Commitment to single-player
BioWare, has confirmed that Dragon Age 4 will be a “single-player focused experience.” The confirmation comes by way of a 2021 blog post celebrating Dragon Age Day, which takes place on December 4 each year. In the post, the Dragon Age team thanked the community for their passion and said that they’re “still hard at work” on what will be a “single-player focused experience for Dragon Age.”
In the post, BioWare also said that we can expect more updates on the game in 2022, stating that they’re “excited for next year when we can talk more about what we’re working on”.
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