According to yet another Kotaku report, it sounds like BioWare has barely begun stitching the next Dragon Age game together. Based on anonymous comments from developers at the studio, the report states that Dragon Age 4 -- or whatever it ends up being called -- is still in "very early" production.
You may remember that Dragon Age 4 got a teaser trailer at The Game Awards last year, but the project seems to be a long, long way off. In fact, it sounds like BioWare doesn't even really know what the next Dragon Age should be. Some sources described the project as "ANTHEM with dragons" -- which doesn't exactly inspire confidence -- but more recent comments suggest that particular description is inaccurate.
Speaking of ANTHEM, its generally negative reception could end up having an impact on the development of Dragon Age 4. The report doesn't go into detail, but it only makes sense that BioWare and EA don't want another eventual disaster on their hands.
The more we read of these reports, the more it's clear that BioWare is struggling to keep up. The studio supposedly rebooted Dragon Age 4 entirely in 2018. This was after its previous incarnation was stalled in 2016 so that members of the development team could help out with the ill-fated Mass Effect: Andromeda, and then cancelled in 2017 so BioWare could have everyone working on the internal dumpster fire that was ANTHEM. Basically, the whole thing sounds like it was an absolute mess.
And so here we are in 2019, and no one seems to know what Dragon Age 4 actually is yet. Will we ever get to see it? At this point, who can say.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 43
Yeah EA and BioWare don’t want another disaster on their hands. But something will go wrong and it will eventually happen anyway. 😐
"Anthem with Dragons"
Welp, looks like its will be a buggy always online game.
"ANTHEM with dragons"
10/10 right there.
If the reception to Anthem really does have an effect on Dragon Age 4's development, then we'll end up with a single-player-driven experience with no microtransactions, which works properly and doesn't brick your console.
Day one for me.
@Gremio108 That's the dream!
No one knows what Dragon Age 4 will be yet?
Sounds like Anthem development, but I'm sure 18 months before launch itll all come together.
Very early in development? That hasnt stopped them releasing games in the past to be fair.
I have to say I am very scared for these guys. If I were them id start looking at positions in other studios. I fear DA4 may not see the light of day.
With the direction Inqusition went (the wrong direction) id expect more mmoish bs and a soulless/broken experience at launch...if we ever get there. Problem is Anthem still made 💰 💰 💰
@kyleforrester87 release date info incoming!😂
Look at it from the positive side; the "with dragons" part suggests there's something that resembles content.
Hmm... the "with dragons" part sounds great.
Aleast now i know how much this page hate anthem like kotaku who just wants to see the world burn since the beginning this page have been nothing but hate on the game and the comunity. The guy who give anthem a review is a really dude who just want anthem and bioware and most of all EA to suffer. Sorry not sorry you will only get what you give.
If I want a MMO like this I’ll just go back to FF XIV. A Realm Reborn is coming up on 6 years and the constant updates, events and content drops are superb from what I hear. It just requires sooooo much time.
EA recently said they wanted to be the greatest publisher in the world. This is a perfect test. Will they step in and help bioware find themselves again, or will they pull the rug from beneath them. An interesting time ahead
They just need a little Bioware magic and it's all good to go;D
Plan and manage, plan and manage. 🙄
stage age inquisition is a amazing.so can't wait for part 4.word up son
Considering that Mike Laidlaw, who was a large part of the Dragon Age series, left to go to Ubisoft I'm more interested in what he is making there than Dragon Age 4.
And this is from someone who enjoyed all of them and Platinumed Inquisition.
EA can start by dropping Frostbite 3 cos that's been one of the bigger issues.
@angel01 "hate" is a strong word. But Anthem hadn't released in the state it did it wouldn't be getting this kind of press
@Nyne11Tyme I agree, Inquisition was such a letdown for me. I loved the first two.
If i hear always online and liveserviceeee i would not care if they go down.
@Angel01 Anthem is a joke just like the biggest companies around deal with it. If you can still defend Anthem then there is something wrong with you. Abusive towards their workers, terrible buggy game, no content what is wrong with you.
I bet nobody guessed that leaked rumoured news.
Oh and lets hope "failure with dragons" is waaaay off
Well that's no surprise given that they didn't know what Anthem was until somebody showed it at E3. They really need to get their house in order at Bioware and have some strong leadership about what games they want to make and have a clear direction
Bioware has to survive Anthem first the fact that they haven't gone under yet for this is suprising considering EA had shutdown bioware montreal only a few months after Andromeda came out and that game wasn't this bad
anthem with dragons lol.
even if anthem was a great game,that would still be a terrible direction for an dragon age game. i mean it would just mean that it is an online game and i don't think the fans are waiting for that.
atleast they deny that rumor.
but knowing EA,they will probably just end up doing that anyway. and if so,it will already be a fail for the fans.
I might get hate on but BioWare isn't BioWare to me anymore :/
EA should just rename them because they keep tarnishing what the old BioWare created.
aka daddy EA has a barrel at the back of our head
@Angel01 You sound like a really intellectual fella, we appreciate your valid input.
Who knows what that means? It could both be a 'Positive' or a 'Negative' for DA4.
An example of a positive is that Bioware are to be given more resources (not necessarily money but man-power) to focus on making DA4 instead of trying to fix, maintain and build up Anthem. No point flogging a Dead Horse so to speak so the reception to Anthem could mean that EA moves more staff over to focus on DA4. They could have more time to as EA finally grasp that games take time instead of making ridiculous deadlines and pushing staff to much to meet them.
A negative of course is that EA cut the money they were intending to put into DA4 after both ME and Anthem. No point putting in a big budget for small (if any) returns. The reaction to Anthem wasn't overwhelmingly positive so EA not willing to give BioWare enough rope to hang themselves or be too ambitious and/or innovative and/or creative.
Given EA's track record right now and Biowares too, it's very difficult to be optimistic. A developer is only as good as their last game, let alone the last two. You wouldn't say Portsmouth deserve to be counted as one of the best football teams in English football today because they won the league for 2 consecutive yrs back in 1949 and 1950. Just because Bioware were 'great', doesn't mean they are now, doesn't mean the talented employees are still at Bioware anymore - quite a few left during ME:A for example.
I bet everyone of us gamers would much prefer EA and Bioware to be churning out Quality games that live up to the promise, live up to the expectation etc. More quality games is what all gamers want - not buggy messes with money grabbing micro-transactions on top of the expensive charge for games. If 'games' really were so expensive to make that they justify a £50 charge, they wouldn't be selling them off after a month at £25. They wouldn't be 'profitable' with a million or 2 games sold. Therefore they don't 'need' MTX etc. If development costs are rising, all that means is that they have to sell a 100k games more before they become profitable and if the game is 'excellent', something gamers want to play, they can go on and sell 'millions' more as well as get gamers on their side - just look at CD Projekt Red for example and the reputation they have with gamers...
@Frigate Yeah, it's sad to see what they have become :/
Though if they remaster ME1-3 and add a few things to them than I'll be happy for a few years xD
I’m not hyped at all, I honestly feel like they haven’t learned their lesson from ME:A and ANTHEM at all. We’ll have to wait and see I guess, but if it’s just going to be “ANTHEM with dragons” then count me out. They deserve to fail and be shut down if that’s the direction they take with one of my favorite franchises ever.
@RawnDawn That's all I want, give me a Mass Effect Trilogy remaster and I'll be happy, add all the dlc, touch it up, maybe update a few things in Mass Effect 1. I simply have no faith in Bioware anymore.
I am not buying.
They need to stop trying to be clever and reinventing the wheel. Just give us a new SP like the old dragon age games with a solid story and quality gameplay. Job done.
There is a core problem here and it is clearly at management level of Bioware. They need to produce games to stay in business but if they can't turn out games at a reasonable speed and quality, EA will close them. Simple as that.
In this case, with two critical bombs in the last few years and a seemingly core problem with game development, I would suggest the future is not bright at all.
BioWare is all done as a top Studio. Read that Jason Schreier report. It’s not surprising they have no idea what DA4. Even in. Anthem had a 7 year development, they didn’t even really know what it was until 2017... the studio is a mess and from that report, it’s not even because of EA like people think.
It's not looking good. Two games in a row that have been poorly received suggests they are really struggling even if you ignore the reports.
"ANTHEM Reception Could Have a Big Impact on It"
Reception, like it's OUR fault? Maybe change that to 'production' to better represent who's to blame here.
@Angel01 As per community rules
Do not use profanity; Use of unsavoury language including profanity and swearing is not acceptable, please remember that this website has users of all ages.
Thanks for understanding
Funny. Everytime I saw clips or descriptions of Anthem before it was released, I though, hmm...Dragon Age Inquisition in space. Perhaps it's best that development takes a while; they might come up with something different for a change.
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