"We've got 50+ years left," says Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw half-jokingly about the future of the franchise. Laidaw responded to several questions posed by fans on Twitter regarding plans for Dragon Age, stemming from one inquiry about a potential ending to the series. No reveals were forthcoming from Laidlaw about current Dragon Age plans or titles in production, but he did confirm that the franchise was nowhere near its conclusion.

While a Dragon Age game may or may not be currently in development, Laidlaw did go so far as to say that BioWare made a habit of always planning two games into the future with the franchise:

"Thus, I could tell you what -could- be in a theoretical game 5, if there were a theoretical game 4 happening."

He goes on to amend that by saying a, "rigid plan that is a decade old by the time you reach the end," is no way to make games either. That's perhaps in reference to BioWare Edmonton's current focus on Anthem and its 10-year plan. Or it could just be a generalist statement about how the best laid plans can go awry.

Mike Laidlaw is a BioWare veteran, nearing 15 years with the company come 2018. He started as lead writer on Jade Empire and jumped into the Dragon Age franchise at the very beginning as lead designer.

He took over full creative direction with Dragon Age: Inquisition and fans have been anxiously awaiting news about what he's working on next. His Twitter profile and LinkedIn account still list him as Dragon Age creative director, so it's assumed he's working on the next entry in that franchise.

BioWare Edmonton has managed to work on multiple games at the same time before, notably the one-two combo of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. While Anthem's scope could very well be larger and more demanding than Edmonton's previous projects, there could be another team working on a Dragon Age game in the basement.

And this isn't the first time Laidlaw has hinted at it either, saying in June that, "Something is happening with Dragon Age." Considering how antsy Laidlaw is getting, it might not even be too far off.

Keep in mind that Anthem's release date was originally planned for 2017, though it's now slated for late 2018. Early 2018 for a new Dragon Age game would be a nice fit, wouldn't it?