It's no secret that a lot of fans lost faith in BioWare following the initial reception of Mass Effect: Andromeda and the release of Anthem. While the former has been gaining fans, as Mass Effect: Legendary Edition players follow-up with Andromeda, the cancellation of Anthem 2.0 means the same won't happen there. Still, after the Legendary Edition, many are hoping that BioWare is mounting a comeback and were hoping to see the fruits of those labors at EA Play.
EA Play is currently scheduled for July 22, but nothing has been confirmed to appear though. Battlefield 2042 seems like a safe bet for EA Play, but there's no doubt that many were looking forward to the next entry in the Dragon Age or Mass Effect franchise there. For those fans, it's worth noting that BioWare has confirmed that it won't have a presence at EA Play.
BioWare announced as much in a tweet today, three weeks before the show, and so it seems to be managing expectations as the show gets closers. The developer promises that it is hard at work on these two games, as well as Star Wars: The Old Republic. More info for the latter will be dropping today as well, but Dragon Age and Mass Effect will remain shrouded in mystery.
Of note is the fact that Mass Effect 4 may have been unlikely to be there to begin with. The next Mass Effect game, whatever it ends up being properly titled, was first revealed/teased at The Game Awards 2020 with a short trailer. Given this, it's likely to be at least a couple years away if no longer. In comparison, Dragon Age 4 was first teased at The Game Awards 2018 and, while it has gotten a sneak peek here and there, nothing major like a release window has been established as of yet.
It seems safe to say that fans would rather wait on these titles and they hit the old BioWare benchmark than to see them rushed onto the market, so while this may be bittersweet for fans, that doesn't mean the whole year will pass by without an update. There's likely to be more Dragon Age 4 concept art revealed throughout the year, perhaps culminating in a bigger announcement later this year. Or, as it seems BioWare has a good relationship with The Game Awards, it's possible fans will get another glimpse there.
For now, BioWare fans may be in the dark regarding Dragon Age and Mass Effect, but that won't always be the case. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition has the developer on the up-and-up, and hopefully, both of these titles deliver on that.
Dragon Age 4 and Mass Effect 4 are in development.