If there’s already a rumor about when BioWare’s next game, which recently laid off fifty employees, might be released, there must be some truth to it…
Jeff Grubb, during his latest Game Mess Morning broadcast, reported on the prospects for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, based on sources at BioWare and Electronic Arts: “For a while there, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf could have come out this year. Internally, at one point, the date that they were looking at was next month, September 2023. But internally, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf keeps getting pushed back. They moved the internal expectations to March 2024 a while ago. Guess what? It’s not coming out then, either. It’s been pushed back again. It is not coming out until Summer 2024 at the earliest.
It is not them talking publically; this is from my reporting. But if it moves again, don’t be surprised in any way. I think it’s very likely it will be pushed back even further. I expect this game to launch probably by the end of next year. But why launch it at the end of next year when you could move it to the last EA fiscal quarter, which ends in March 2025? This thing could keep moving. Again, Summer 2024 is what they’re looking at at the earliest. How are they finishing Dragon Age: Dreadwolf? Guess what? They’re bringing in people from the Mass Effect team, which is being drained a little bit so that more people can come to work on Dreadwolf. That naturally means Mass Effect is getting pushed further down the line, so don’t expect that any time soon. Most people weren’t expecting it, but push it back even further in your heads,” Grubb said. What did Gary McKay say the other day? More efficient development with fewer people…?
Among the people leaving BioWare, for example, is Mary Kirby, who created the hairy-chested Varric who appeared in Dragon Age 2. Kirby started at the company in 2006 as a Dragon Age: Origins writer. She primarily worked on that franchise, except for a stint on Star Wars: The Old Republic (there were cutbacks there, too, but they handed over MMO development to Broadsword Online Games). Kirby also wrote the first Qunari character in the series (Sten) but is credited with the sarcastic Vivienne.
Also worth mentioning is technical director Jon Renish, who confirmed on Twitter that he is among those leaving after spending eight years at the studio working on Anthem and Dragon Age. David Gaider, who previously held a lead writer position (he left Dragon Age and BioWare in 2016), also tweeted that the news saddened him, as they sent away the most senior and perhaps most expensive staff members who deserved more loyalty than that.
The situation does not look good.
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