Dragon Age 4 will be the next game in BioWare’s acclaimed fantasy franchise. However, aside from a few hints, there has been very little official news about the game since its announcement.
The Game Awards 2020 are just around the corner, and it’s already been confirmed that BioWare will be making an appearance with Dragon Age 4. However, due to some major changes at the studio, new details alone likely won't be enough to maintain fan faith in the upcoming title. Here are some of the key ways BioWare can keep fan interest in Dragon Age 4 high going forward.
Dragon Age Details
Many Dragon Age fans will be hoping that BioWare takes The Game Awards 2020 as an opportunity to be much more transparent about its upcoming title than the studio has been so far. Developers have made general comments about the game, such as expressing the storytellers’ goal of creating a player protagonist who explores “what happens when you don’t have power,” in the world of Dragon Age. BioWare has also revealed some concept art, though without context it’s hard to tell what most of this art means for the game’s story.
Although it may still be early stages, several major decisions will have already been made that BioWare will likely confirm a The Game Awards 2020. It has long been speculated that Dragon Age 4 will take place in Tevinter, for example, which is among the details that could be confirmed, assuming there is some form of trailer.
There are other details which are less likely to be revealed at The Game Awards, however, that BioWare could reveal over the next few years of development to be more transparent than the studio has been over the previous two years. Since the game now have a few years' development on its belt, it would be logical to resent more information about it over time, thus hopefully alleviating any current anxiety. For example, it has been hinted for some time that Dragon Age 4 may include a new playable race – the mysterious “powers across the sea” known as the Executors. After The Game Awards, going into 2021, BioWare could be more transparent about its aims for character creation in Dragon Age 4, including any lessons learnt from past games and any new features including new playable races.
There are other spoiler-free details that BioWare could announce after The Game Awards to maintain excitement for Dragon Age 4 going forward. There were four separate player character voice actors in Dragon Age: Inquisition that players were able to choose from for the Inquisitor’s voice. Dragon Age 4 will very likely have a similar system, and players might be excited to hear who will be providing the available voices for the franchise’s new protagonist. Behind-the-scenes reveals like this might not be worth a spot at a major gaming event, but could help the studio be more open about its process as development continues.
There are other anticipated features which BioWare could be more open about after The Game Awards as well to make sure players feel like they're being kept in the loop. After the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s The Descent DLC, many fans were left wondering if dwarves would finally be able to play as mages in Dragon Age 4. One dwarven character, Shaper Valta, is struck by a vein of pure lyrium in the add-on, and appears to cast a spell afterwards.
In short, BioWare will very likely use The Game Awards to make some major announcements about Dragon Age 4, potentially confirming its setting among other details. However, from then on the studio will need to be more open about its development process than it has been so far if players are going to continue following the game's development through until release. That's not to say everything or even anything mentioned here would be a requirement to do so, but more transparency and communication moving forward is only a good thing.
Why Transparency Now?
There is a very good reason that BioWare will need to be more transparent about Dragon Age 4's development after The Game Awards 2020. While BioWare has been a trusted RPG studio in the past, BioWare's general manager Casey Hudson and Dragon Age's executive producer Mark Darrah announced that they were both going to be stepping away from the studio ust a few days ago. Some of BioWare's greatest achievements were developed with Hudson involved, while Darrah has overseen the Dragon Age franchise as an executive producer since its Game of the Year-winning debut back in 2009. In other words, the future of the studio can be seen as unclear, making transparency more necessary than ever to maintain the strong relationship the RPG studio has built up with its fans over decades of game development.
Now, it's worth highlighting that these two men have done great things for the studios, indeed, but that games are made by teams, not individuals. While it's okay to feel a bit anxious about this, it's by no means something fans should work themselves up about. Instead, paying attention to BioWare's actions pre-release may be key, and consistent communication may just be part of that.
Dragon Age 4 is in development now.