We now have more reason to believe that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is coming next year.
To quickly review, we had previously reported on a rumor that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is coming for 2024, as far back as last August. Jeff Grubb had shared news that Bioware was aiming for a March 2024 release in particular, but because they did ran into some difficulties, that release window was extended towards a summer 2024 release.
Now, as reported by Tech4Gamers, an EA staffer had credited himself on Linkedin for the game, indicating a 2024 release date. Senior cinematic animator at EA, Kevin Scott, had written on his LinkedIn that he “Animated gameplay characters for Dragon Age: DreadWolf (2024 release).”
As you may have noted, Jeff had more details in his rumor. One may consider that this new bit isn’t really a huge update from the previous rumor. Instead, we can take it as corroborating evidence of the earlier rumor. At the very least, we know that Bioware is still aiming for 2024.
Unfortunately, whatever had caused the delay of the game’s release could itself be quite serious. Bioware laid off as much as 50 of their own workers this year, and last month, their QA company fired its own workers, after those workers formed a union.
While we don’t want to hear about any delays, we also don’t want to learn that once again, another upcoming major AAA release was waylaid by development issues behind the scenes. It isn’t just that it doesn’t look good for the company. It’s only common sense that game companies do their best work when everyone is on the same page, and the developers and staff are treated well by management.
Bioware is also at a crossroads with Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. The subsequent releases of Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda had ruined the studio’s long earned reputation. It’s not that these games were only bad, or that they had no redeeming qualities. The financial failure of these games puts the studio on a precipice, as based on that perspective, EA may choose to close the studio or relegate them to support studio status in the future.
On the flip side, Bioware is staring at a huge opportunity in the face. In the loaded year that was 2023, Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 emerged to be one of the greatest releases. That release has already elevated the studios’ profile. More importantly, it’s created an appetite for more fantasy themed games, and fantasy RPGs.
Many Baldur’s Gate 3 fans themselves noted the clear inspiration from Bioware. There’s definitely even more hunger for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf now as a result. Here’s hoping Bioware has what it will take to satiate that hunger.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is planned for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows.
