Dragon Age: Dreadwolf shows plenty of promise, but its notable absence from The Game Awards 2022 has left many fans confused, worried, and even deeply dissatisfied with BioWare's marketing campaign for the game. Despite promising to be transparent, and keeping Dragon Age fans looped in through regular blog posts, BioWare is being suspiciously tight-lipped about a game that's allegedly supposed to come out in late 2023. What little has been shown of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and its Tevinter setting was warmly received by the fandom, but its quantity has started to emerge as a red flag that can no longer be ignored.
The absence of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf during The Game Awards broke an old BioWare tradition, and it's safe to say Dragon Age fans were expecting a trailer to debut. Whether they were misled by a disorganized marketing campaign, or simply made the wrong assumptions, the result is fundamentally the same: Dragon Age fans feel BioWare's tactic of drip feeding its target audience morsels of information so close to the game's launch isn't sustainable, and is in fact highly suspicious.
The failures of Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda have cast a long shadow across the future of Dragon Age and BioWare, as its fans now wonder if Dreadwolf's production is equally troubled and headed for disaster. Though players have expressed their concerns and disappointment across social media, the Reddit thread posted by teddypolkadots perhaps most accurately reflects the current sentiment among Dragon Age fans.
After being promised more information in 2022, the only thing Dragon Age fans received was a title, a video that might generously be called a teaser, and a statement that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was playable from start to finish. While there is an argument to be made that some games such as The Elder Scrolls 6 may have been announced too early, Dreadwolf's release window is seemingly less than a year away.
As stunning as the footage and concept art of Minrathous in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf may be, fans demand to know more about a game they've spent the past eight years being excited about. A reveal trailer, a Q&A session to engage with the community, the reveal of the Dreadwolf's companions – all valid proposals on how the Dragon Age team could engage with its fans to generate hype for a project that has the thankless task of rebuilding BioWare's reputation.
Comparing the transparency shown by BioWare for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf with the transparency shown by Larian for Baldur's Gate 3 speaks volumes on why players are so worried that something went terribly wrong with its development. Both Dreadwolf and the third Baldur's Gate title are currently set to release in 2023, but one feels a lot more real and confident in its direction than the other. Though Dragon Age: Absolution on Netflix is a good way to tide fans over until BioWare is ready to reveal more about its upcoming game, the current situation has understandably taken its toll on the community.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is in development.