Dragon Age Inquisition Delay

Hot on the heels of EA's announcement that Battlefield: Hardline had been pushed back to 2015, the publisher has announced that yet another highly anticipated October release is delayed. Dragon Age: Inquisition will now launch a month later than anticipated on November 18th.

While not nearly as substantial a delay as Battlefield: Hardline's, this Dragon Age: Inquisition move should still come as a disappointment to eager fans. At the same time, though, it does move Dragon Age away from the over crowded month of October, which could be a good thing in the long run.

Also like with Battlefield: Hardline, Dragon Age: Inquisition apparently needs a little extra time in the oven. Executive Producer Mark Darrah revealed that feedback from fans has been overwhelmingly positive and, in an effort to ensure a higher quality end product, the BioWare team decided to push the game back by a month.

"We appreciate the enormous support we’ve received from all of you to get to this point, and while this extra few weeks may not seem like a lot, I know the game you’ll play will be all the better for it."

We also wouldn't be surprised if the delay was a business move on Electronic Arts' part, so as to get out of the way of the other big October releases. As we've mentioned before, October is going to be huge for last-gen and current-gen releases, with at least two (sometimes three) major titles hitting every Tuesday. Some of these games will do just fine in October, but plenty will slip through the cracks. EA did not want Dragon Age to be one of them.

Dragon Age Inquisition Dragon Battle

Coincidentally, Battlefield: Hardline was also looking at an October release, but now the title will target a 2015 date. Developer Visceral Games cited a need to add new features into the multiplayer experience and improve the single player campaign as the driving factors behind the delay, and given the tepid reaction to the game's recent beta we think they made a smart move.

However now that Battlefield: Hardline is off the 2014 slate, Dragon Age: Inquisition then becomes EA's only big fall release. More pressure means less room for error, and so EA made the smart move to push DA and hope that it will make a bigger splash in the less crowded month of November.

Obviously, no one is going to fault a developer for wanting a little extra time to improve their product - they've made it a point to include fans in the development process - but with the game so close, any delay is no doubt disappointing. Thankfully, EA got this news out now rather than drop it during the Dragon Age: Inquisition panel at Comic-Con. Less boos that way.

How do you feel about the Dragon Age: Inquisition delay? Do you think this will improve sales?

Dragon Age: Inquisition releases November 18, 2014 for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

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Source: EA

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