BioWare has had a rough few years. Following the critical and commercial success of Dragon Age: Inquisition, the studio moved on to Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, two games that abandoned the tenets of previous BioWare titles under mounting publisher pressure.
It’s been over six years since Inquisition, and although we know Dragon Age: The Veilguard (formerly Dreadwolf) is in development, it’ll be a while before we see it. From the release date to the teaser trailer to any news and rumors we could find, here’s everything we know about Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Release date
We’ve known that Dragon Age: Veilguard is in the works thanks to the 2018 Game Awards teaser and some concept art, but we knew not to expect it for a while, though. During a 2020 EA earnings call, the company’s Blake Jorgensen said the following: “You should assume that there is Dragon Age out there, and we’ve talked about it publicly that it’s in the works, and it probably comes after fiscal ’22 … you should assume that it’s out there and plans are underway for that product, as well as some other products.”
Beyond that, it wasn’t until June 2022 that BioWare officially announced the game’s title as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and confirmed that it wouldn’t be coming in 2022.
The latest blog post announced that the game has completed its Alpha milestone, which means the title is playable from start to finish. However, this doesn’t mean the game is as close to completion as you might think. This just means the team can focus more on visual fidelity, gameplay features, story pacing, and character progression.
While not anything official, EA released its fiscal year 2025 title slate in which in notes that, “We have two unannounced titles in FY25: one partner title expected in Q4 and one owned IP title, which is not included in the above table. We expect to provide more details on timing at a later date.” According to Jeff Grubb, that owned IP is indeed Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which would mean EA plans to release it before March 31, 2025.
Platforms
Short of some art shown during EA Play 2020 — which we’ll get to next — EA hasn’t released much about Dragon Age: Veilguard. During Gamescom 2020, though, we got another look.
Despite being four minutes long, the behind-the-scenes look doesn’t really say anything about Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The beginning of the video also mentions next-gen hardware, all but confirming Dragon Age: The Veilguard will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Being so late in the generation, it would also be safe to assume it won’t be coming to last-gen systems too.
Otherwise, the video offers a few glimpses of gameplay and one particular returning character: Solas. This isn’t necessarily news — BioWare has been pretty forthcoming about Solas being a key character in the next game — but it’s nice to get confirmation.
Trailers
BioWare showed off the first official teaser trailer for Dragon Age: Veilguardduring The Game Awards 2020. The trailer shows off Solas and some of the characters you may be able to play as set against the backdrop of a vibrant fantasy world teeming with color.
Otherwise, there was a trailer at The Game Awards in 2018, as well as a behind-the-scenes look during Gamescom 2020. Like most teasers, there isn’t much to go on in the trailer, short of a single piece of dialogue saying, “So, you found me at last. I suspect you have questions.” Accompanying this line is a tag that reads, “The Dread Wolf Rises.” You can see the teaser below.
We’re diving into some spoiler territory here, so if you’re interested in playing Dragon Age: Inquisition before the fourth entry in the series, skip ahead. The Dread Wolf in Dragon Age refers to the elven god Fen’Harel, with the “Dread Wolf” name showing up a lot during the Trespasser DLC for Inquisition. The lore is complex, to say the least, and users on Reddit have already started the long process of breaking down the trailer. In short, though, Solas, a companion in Inquisition, confesses to being Fen’Harel in the Trespasser DLC. He then explains the risks of the Inquisition becoming corrupt before the Inquisitor is given a choice between stopping Solas or redeeming him. Solas also says the phrase, “I suspect you have questions.”
Of course, we don’t know the plot of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but it’s clear Solas is at the center of it. Further confirming this, BioWare tweeted a handwritten letter from Solas inviting the Inquisitor to tea in celebration of Dragon Age: Inquisition‘s fifth anniversary.
Happy 5th Birthday, Dragon Age: Inquisition. pic.twitter.com/mTIRc5HfDM
— BioWare (@bioware) November 18, 2019
The other thing the trailer touches on is red lyrium — in particular, a red lyrium idol from Dragon Age II. If you haven’t played the second game, spoiler alert: After finding the idol with Varric and his brother Bartrand in the first act, it poisons Bartrand’s mind. We can clearly see the idol in the center of the mural, so although we don’t know what will happen in The Veilguard, it will likely involve Solas getting his hands on the corrupted idol.
While not a trailer, BioWare posted a community update that shared some interesting details on crafting the narrative. They claim Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be a balance of giving answers to the long-running questions of the series, as well as a story that new players can get invested in.
Codex entries were heavily spoken about and serve as a way to give a deeper look into the world, locations, characters, and events of the Dragon Age world without interrupting the game. They will dynamically unlock as appropriate during the game, so you will never be overwhelmed with entries to read. They are also framed as in-world texts, such as letters or books, to keep the player invested in the world and role-playing aspects of the game.
Dragon Age Day 2023 came with another tiny teaser. It is mostly a simple VO as we see some images of maps and what may or may not be in-game shots of locations. The meat of it comes at the end, where we learn that the game will have a full reveal sometime in summer 2024.
Gameplay
The Official Gameplay Reveal features an extended look at an early section of the game. The first element highlighted is the player character Rook. The example in the demo was a Rogue, but you will be able to customize their appearance, backstory, and class. The three playable classes will be Rogue, Warrior, and Mage.
Before combat gets going, we see the return of the classic dialogue wheel. The first choice had little weight, but the one near the end promised massive repercussions for one of your companions.
Combat in Dragon Age: The Veilguard will feature your character along with two companions at a time. Traditional combat appears similar to an Arkham game where you can flow between foes to attack and see a danger indicator above your head letting you know when to dodge. You can also parry some projectiles to send them back to the enemy who shot at you. Being a Rogue, this character can also shoot arrows that refill on a cooldown timer.
You can also take a more tactical approach to combat by calling up the Ability Wheel to fully freeze time and select which ability you want to use and where to target it. Abilities cost a resource that builds up as you land normal attacks and is represented by a pink bar at the bottom of the screen. As a kind of finishing move, you can use team combos to deal massive damage in a unique move depending on which companions you have with you.
Preorder
Preorders haven’t begun for Dragon Age: The Veilguard yet. In fact, we don’t even have a release date. If past releases are anything to go by, BioWare will have multiple editions of Dragon Age: The Veilguard with various preorder bonuses.
Dragon Age: Inquisition topped out with a $170 “Inquisitor’s Edition,” which featured a tarot card deck, a special case, a cloth map, a full-scale lock-picking set, a quill and ink, a badge, some coins, and a 40-page journal. It’s been several years since Inquisition, and the video game industry has changed a lot, but we still expect EA to release a big, bold collector’s edition for Dragon Age: The Veilguard packed with preorder bonuses.
