Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf,^[2] previously referred to as The Dread Wolf Rises or Dragon Age 4, is the fourth installment of the Dragon Age video game series.

Announcement[]

The 2018 Game Awards teaser trailer was released on December 6, 2018. Most of the video shows a close-up view of the lyrium idol, a dwarven artifact uncovered by the Champion of Kirkwall during the events of Dragon Age II. The image shown at the end of the trailer depicts the idol in the center, an unnamed character to the left, and what is likely a wolf to the right. The idol is surrounded by seven circles, two of which have not been greyed out, and the ground appears to be on fire.

This section contains spoilers for:
Trespasser.

At the end of the trailer, Solas's voice can be heard, saying, "So... you've found me at last. I suspect you have questions," echoing his remarks at the end of Trespasser.^[3]

Development[]

In late 2018, it was stated that the game had been in development "for quite a while."^[3] It was revealed at the 2018 Video Game Awards.^[4] Sources within BioWare stated that the game would be released no earlier than 2021, and that, as of late 2018, the game was without an official name.^[5]

An April 9, 2019 article by Jason Schreier of Kotaku stated that the game was originally intended to be a heist-heavy, smaller-scope adventure revolving around a group of spies in the Tevinter Imperium. Players would have the opportunity to influence other characters, enjoy a rich companion roster, and watch the land and scenario change over time with their choices and–potentially, with multiplayer–the choices of thousands of other players. However, in February 2021 it was confirmed that the game would be exclusively single-player.^[6] There was no mention of the Inquisition in the Kotaku summary, and the protagonist was clearly not the Inquisitor.

In the early stages of development, the Dreadwolf project was code-named "Joplin," and thematically centered around heists. This working title changed after much of BioWare's staff were routed from the project to work on other BioWare titles, with a small team remaining to start the Dreadwolf project anew. Now code-named "Morrison", this second evolution was built on Anthem's tools and codebase, featuring a multiplayer live service component^[7] akin to Destiny. The decision to utilize multiplayer was later reversed.^[8]

In a company earnings call, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen stated that the game would probably be released post-fiscal year 2022.^[9]

In July 2020, Mark Darrah reiterated that BioWare was continuing to work on the game, but that progress had been slow due to the amount of staff required to work from home (due to the Covid pandemic).^[10]

On June 2, 2022, the game’s title was officially announced to be Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.

The game reached its alpha milestone in October 2022, meaning that the game is playable from start to finish.^[11]

In a blog post published on Dragon Age Day 2023, BioWare published a teaser and announced that more information about the game would be released during the summer of 2024.^[12]

Plot[]

The game starts at some point following the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition, particularly those of Trespasser. The location has been confirmed to be Tevinter Imperium.^[13]

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Knight Errant.

During the events of Dragon Age: Deception #3, an elven servant named Gaius is revealed to be impersonating a Magister in Ventus while reporting to Solas. He reveals that a "weapon imbued with red lyrium" stolen from Kirkwall has been traded away for information. According to writer Nunzio De Filippis this was not something Solas would have approved of.^[14]

According to the 2020 Game Awards trailer, the hero of the fourth Dragon Age game will be one their enemies "will never see coming." Narrator Brian Bloom as Varric Tethras confirms the protagonist will not be a figure of prophecy or a hero with a "magic hand", but a new hero set to take on Tevinter, darkspawn and even the Dread Wolf.^[15]