Dragon Age 4 development at BioWare is “in very good shape” and moving steadily toward a release date as early as late 2023, according to GamesBeat reporter Jeff Grubb on a new episode of his (paywalled) podcast GrubbSnax (via VGC). The development team is reportedly “hitting their milestones” on schedule. However, if you have been holding out hope for Dragon Age remasters like what Mass Effect received with Legendary Edition, you may be disappointed, as those are apparently not happening.
As far as Dragon Age 4 goes, any update is a good update at this point, as BioWare and publisher EA have mostly kept their cards close to the vest to date. The project’s cryptic December 2018 reveal was followed by a long silence, with some concept art arriving in August 2020. A cinematic trailer at The Game Awards 2020 offered more to mull over but left much to be desired after years without a proper in-engine look.
However, today’s information and other indications suggest Dragon Age 4 is in a stable stage of development. An early 2021 report claimed that BioWare had shifted the next Dragon Age from the live-service model to a full-fledged, single-player-only title. A blog post from the developer itself confirmed the more focused direction just last month: “As for Dragon Age, we have a veteran group of talented developers working on the next iteration of the franchise. We are focused on a single-player experience that is built on choices that matter.”
It’s nearly all good news for Dragon Age fans everywhere. However, Jeff Grubb did say that EA and BioWare do not currently have plans to remaster the Dragon Age trilogy, as the games aren’t as tightly connected narratively as in Mass Effect and they were created with different game engines, which would complicate remastering them.
Still, Dragon Age 4 is very much on the way. What exactly Dragon Age 4 will look like ahead of its potential late 2023 release date remains to be seen.
