A huge gaming franchise that hasn’t been seen since 2014 is making a comeback on the PS5.
After confirming that a new Dragon Age game was in development late last year, EA has given fans a release date timeline.
Unfortunately, however, according to EA CFO Blake Jorgensen, Dragon Age 4 won’t launch until at least 2022.
This almost guarantees it will launch on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox 2 instead of current-gen systems.
In a meeting with investors, Jorgensen said: “You should assume that Dragon Age – it’s out there, we’ve talked about it publicly that it’s in the works – it probably comes after fiscal 22.
“We typically don’t give multi-year guidance this early in the year, or multi-year guidance period. So I don’t want to start giving [fiscal] 23 guidance now that I’ve started to hint on 22, but you should assume it’s out there and plans are underway for that product.”
And the return of Dragon Age could be somewhat bittersweet, because EA has confirmed plans to “double down” on live service games.
“Looking ahead, we are doubling down on live services combined with our core franchises,” he continued.
“We’re investing in games that people play for longer and engage with much more deeply. This focus will continue to drive growth and profitability for the company through the remainder of this year and beyond.”
It looks increasingly like previous reports were true and Dragon Age 4 will be more of a live service game.
EA’s track record with live service games isn’t the best, so it’s worrying to think that the next Dragon Age will be filled with loot boxes and the likes.
In slightly more positive news, EA is also planning to remaster some fan favourite games from the past.
As for Dragon Age 4, the game is being developed by a team of BioWare veterans.
Creative director Matthew Goldman explains more: “Making players into heroes of their own stories has been my real-life quest since Baldur’s Gate.
“Over the years I’ve taken on increasing challenges: building vast living worlds, devising fun party-based combat and illustrating fantastic stories. Now, I’m honoured and excited to continue BioWare’s rich legacy of colourful companions, romance and epic choices in my favourite fantasy franchise.
“We’ve gathered our strongest team yet and are venturing forth on the most epic quest ever!”
