Jacob Curr
Image Credit: BioWare
With Dragon Age: The Veilguard being announced in June 2024 as the new name to BioWare’s highly anticipated edition to the Dragon Age series, fans have yet again been reminded at just how rocky of a development cycle the project has had – a microcosm of the rocky state that BioWare has been in for the past decade. Lacking any major release since 2019’s disappointing Anthem, BioWare is in need of a big win to regain the gaming community’s trust and admiration. Returning to their heights will take a mighty effort however, and Veilguard’s very public production struggles have left even the most encouraged of fans feeling cautiously optimistic at best.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard, or the Dreadwolf
To say that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has had a tough development would be putting it lightly. After initially beginning development in 2015, the project has experienced many setbacks including cancellations and considerable staff turnover. The initial project was cancelled in 2017 in part due to the game not being able to incorporate a live-service model. The cancellation saw the departure of creative director Mike Laidlaw, a veteran at BioWare who wrote for Mass Effect and directed for the first three Dragon Age games.
Even after the project was rebooted in 2018, staff turnover remained significant with several high-level creative directors and producers leaving over the years of development. In August 2023 BioWare announced that 50 positions had been laid off, including Mary Kirby, a long time writer for the Dragon Age series.
So much disarray and so little transparency had fans like myself wondering if a new Dragon Age game would ever see the sun. But through the chaos, there was yet a light. In June of 2022 BioWare revealed that their newest entry to the series would be titled Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, the story of which would revolve around Solus following the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition. The confirmation of the return of Solus to the series was exciting as many questions regarding his character and motives had been left unanswered. But two years later and fans were hit with another twist, that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was to be retitled to Dragon Age: The Veilguard and that it has a planned release in fall of 2024. In his announcement, executive producer Gary McKay assures that the retitle was needed to better reflect the importance that our companions will have to the story, and that Solus the dreadwolf will still play a major role. Even still, I find that this title change only adds to the rising concern that myself and many others seem to be feeling over what this game will be when it finally releases.
BioWare Cannot Afford Another Poor Release
BioWare are a long ways away from the heights of their prime. Once regarded as a master of western RPGs with their incredible characters and story telling, they are now largely seen as a shell of themselves. After the release of Inquisition in 2014, BioWare went on to release two duds in Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem. While Andromeda had been a decent game on its own merit, when compared to the rest of the Mass Effect series I found that it underperformed in nearly every meaningful area, especially those having to do with character development, mission design, and cinematics/animation (combat was awesome though!). BioWare seemed to agree, as all support for the game, including any promise for DLC content, was abandoned less than 5 months after release.
Anthem was a disaster and its failure self-explanatory, though if you want an explanation here is a good article going into detail.
When it comes down to it BioWare needs a win, and they need one badly, to reestablish themselves as one of the best at making video games with engaging stories, conflicts, and characters that actually mean something. A poor performance from Dragon Age: The Veilguard and I fear that BioWare’s reputation may not be able to survive another hit in the eyes of fans and, perhaps more importantly to them, Electronic Arts.
BioWare games hold such a special place in my heart, as I’m sure they do amongst many others, and I desperately want to live in a world where they return to producing high-quality games. As an even larger Mass Effect fan, I selfishly need to see the company survive at least long enough to produce the next Mass Effect game (which has also been in a long development cycle). For now I will remain cautiously optimistic, knowing what it has felt like to be bitten before, and preparing myself to be bitten again.
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