Recently I’ve been talking a lot about the next Dragon Age’s development with regards to an initial release window of 2023. I’ve shared a little bit about this speculated release date, however, today I wanted to have a separate and direct discussion about this topic - because I want to convince each of you, and explain why I think a 2022 release window for the next Dragon Age is not a good idea.
I’ve had a lot of surprised and upset reactions when I mentioned a 2023 (+) potential release window - which is completely understandable and I 100% emphasise with each of you - we’ve all been waiting since Trespasser’s events in 2015 for the next Dragon Age entry, it’s been an incredibly long wait already and we’re all diligently giving BioWare patience. But, of course, we want the next Dragon Age as soon as possible.
I know for a fact each of us were hesitantly excited when it was revealed in EA’s 2019 earnings call that the initial estimation for Dragon Age 4’s release window was set to be anytime after April 2022.
And, given what I am about to say, for all we know, the next Dragon Age could still be set to release within this 2022 window - the team could absolutely still be on target. This 2023 (+) release window is just speculation from myself with as many sources as I can muster, so please take it with a grain of salt. However, I fully (and subjectively) believe that the next Dragon Age is not ready for a 2022 release for many different reasons, five to be precise, the first reason being that this initial 2022 release window was a pre-pandemic estimation.
Pandemic Delays:
For the moment, regardless of BioWare’s struggles during the pandemic, as a whole, the entire games industry has had a substantial impact because of the pandemic. Many expected 2021 titles have been delayed because of the pandemics difficulties, such titles like the God of War sequel, Gotham Knights and Hogwarts Legacy - each were estimated to release quite contently in 2021, however, because of the pandemic’s impact on several development factors, each title has been delayed to 2022, or even further.
Even the Anthem Next reboot was cancelled because of obstacles faced with the pandemic.
Therefore; given that many titles were almost finished and set to release in 2021 have been delayed, it’s completely reasonable to expect an internal delay on the next Dragon Age, especially considering the bulk of the game’s production stages began at the heights of the pandemic.
According to Lead Producer Scylla Costa, every single developer on the Dragon Age team had to adapt to drastic new changes like working remotely and having the right infrastructure to continue with the game’s production at a steady ease. This transition, understandably, took a while, but after a couple of months of adapting to these changes, the team were able to continue with development despite the challenges. Even so, the pandemic has most assuredly greatly affected the production time of the next Dragon Age.
For example, EA had another earnings call in May 2021 focusing on the immediate future of 2022 with titles like Battlefield, Apex Legends and EA Sports outlined. There was no word on the next Dragon Age, other than BioWare have a new title coming out in the future. If the next Dragon Age was still estimated to release in 2022, why was it not mentioned in this earnings call?
Even if Dragon Age was missing from this earnings call for whatever reason, and the next game is still planned to release in 2022, I wouldn’t have full confidence in that release window given the current time spent in the production stages and how much work there is left on the project - which brings me to the second reason.
Current Estimated Production Time:
According to Lead Producer Scylla Costa, the next Dragon Age started its main production stages in early 2020. Thanks to Jason Schrier’s reports and many BioWare staff’s comments, we know that the project was in its pre-production stages since 2017 with a much more condensed team that grew over the years. The main bulk of staff entered the project in 2019, where the fully operational Dragon Age team continued with its pre-production stages as a full unit.
The main production stages began in early 2020 and endured through the pandemic after many growing pains and remote-work adaptations. The team had many hurdles to cross like adjustments to remote work, motion capture, communication issues, etc. However, the team overcame those obstacles tremendously well, creating new standards for the entire development process.
Many of the team’s adaptations and support regarding work amendments to the pandemic are still in place today like flexible working hours and deadlines. Having flexible deadlines, in itself, proves that the next game has had some internal delays, understandably.
Not to get stuck in the nitty-gritty because, in truth, these are just my estimations, but, a lot of pre-production time has been spent on the next Dragon Age, we can assume there were around 2 years of pre-production with a very small team, and then a year of pre-production with the majority of the team on the project. The production stages started in early 2020, so that’s around a year/year and a half of production time. Currently, the project has to finish its production stages, then the project has its Alpha, Beta, and Launch stages left to go.
According to former Creative Director Mike Laidaw, Dragon Age: Inquisition spent 4 years in development. The team spent one year in the early concept stages and around three years in the main production stages.
With that logic, the next Dragon Age should spend at least one and a half/two more years with it’s following production stages, considering a lot of its development time has been early pre-production work - which ties into my third reason.
Single-Player Turnaround:
Adding even more into the mix, the next Dragon Age was revamped in early 2021 with a new pivot to remove all multiplayer components and live service elements for a single-player experience.
Perhaps the production of the project was still early enough so the team could proceed with this removal process with ease, or, slightly more worrying, the developers may be having to rebuild entire systems for a single-player experience, as it sounds like multiplayer elements were built as this project's foundations which honestly sounds like another internal reboot with its own tin of worms - especially when you consider that the next Dragon Age has spent at least 3 years in pre-production with this multiplayer and live service focus.
No doubt, the team will have created integral live service systems and online elements that will have been designed to suit this multiplayer ambition. If that’s the case (which I believe it is), then I can imagine the removal and revamp of those systems will take a lot more time, which means the game will need longer in its development.
Same Routine as Anthem & Andromeda:
Speaking of time, I present my fourth reason, If Dragon Age 4 were to release in 2022, it would have a very similar development routine as both Anthem and Andromeda. Remember, Anthem was in development for nearly seven years but didn’t enter its production stages until the final 18 months because of huge narrative reboots, major design overhauls, and a leadership team said to be unable to provide a consistent vision, and unwillingness to listen to feedback.
[Anthem] was in development for nearly seven years but didn’t enter production until the final 18 months, thanks to big narrative reboots, major design overhauls, and a leadership team said to be unable to provide a consistent vision and unwilling to listen to feedback. (How BioWare’s Anthem Went Wrong, Kotaku).
Mass Effect: Andromeda was in development for five years, but by most accounts, BioWare built the bulk of the game in less than 18 months because of the Frostbite engine’s limitations, scrapped mechanics, internal politics between two teams, and ultimately a failed prototype.
Mass Effect: Andromeda was in development for five years, but by most accounts, BioWare built the bulk of the game in less than 18 months. This is the story of what happened. (The Story Behind Mass Effect: Andromeda's Troubled Five-Year Development, Kotaku).
The next Dragon Age has been in pre-production for five years, however, only started its production stages in early 2020. This is because the original iteration of the next Dragon Age was rebooted in 2017 to focus on live service elements. However, since then, the project has been reworked back to a single-player experience.
Either way, the project has currently only been in production for around 17 months, while BioWare are on the right path to avoiding the mistakes of Anthem and Andromeda, the project has faced many critical issues like major staff departures and pandemic difficulties. Even so, many amendments to the project have been made, however, if there was a release date for 2022, that’s still not enough time given the in-flux development.
No Crunch Working Conditions:
And, even if it (somehow) is enough time and the next Dragon Age is still on target to launch in 2022 despite the reworks and challenges, the Dragon Age team would, no doubt, have to crunch to meet that deadline.
This brings me to my final reason. No matter how good the next Dragon Age could be, you’ve gotta ask yourself, is it really going to be worth the wellbeing and sanity of the developers who’ve crunched to make this game a reality. And the answer is no.
If I am honest, I’d rather BioWare not crunch in the slightest and release the next Dragon Age in 2-3 years from now because the wellbeing of the team is much more important than the game, hands down.
Recently, BioWare have announced that they’re adamant about stopping crunch working conditions and putting in place healthier working practices - which is good to hear. I’m BioWare’s biggest supporter on YouTube, but the horror stories that came out regarding Anthem’s development are horrific and should be a huge learning point for the entire leadership teams within the studio. Developers shouldn’t want one of their projects to die in order to prove their point that crunch is bad.
“Some of the people in Edmonton were so burnt out,” said one former BioWare developer. “They were like, ‘We needed [Dragon Age: Inquisition] to fail in order for people to realize that this isn’t the right way to make games.’” (How BioWare’s Anthem Went Wrong, Kotaku).
Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah helped the Dragon Age team turn around the working conditions by setting a new precedent, however, they’ve both left the studio within the past 7 months. I hope Casey’s vision and Mark’s handling of avoiding crunch have been set in stone for the developers and studio going forward. Otherwise, then the studio has failed to learn from their past mistakes and treatment of developers, which would be incredibly upsetting to see, honestly.
Summary:
Attempting to wrap this up, as I said before, I’m not BioWare, I’m just a British lad and my estimations on the game’s production stages may be slightly off because, of course, I don’t know the internal timeframe on the next Dragon Age, I’m just basing my speculation on the few sources that we have.
However, based on what we know, I genuinely hope the next Dragon Age spends more time in its production stages, and doesn’t have a release window for 2022. And I mean that, if we get a trailer this year with a release window for 2022, I will be slightly worried and apprehensive depending on the contents of that hypothetical trailer because I think this game needs more time in the oven. Like Shigeru Miyamoto said: “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.”
I completely understand why so many people are upset and saddened when they hear the next game may take longer because we’ve all been waiting so long already. However, please remember that it’s only been two years since BioWare released Anthem. That’s only two years since the majority of the Dragon Age team returned to work on the next Dragon Age - which is another indicator towards its current production.
Maybe Anthem’s tools and codebase have helped the production continue at a faster pace - the developers haven’t built the next Dragon Age from scratch which has saved time and resources, but there’s still so many other factors to consider: the recent live service turnaround, no crunch conditions, pandemic difficulties, BioWare’s previous mistakes, etc.
With that, I ask that you give BioWare and the Dragon Age team your patience knowing that the next Dragon Age is already on loose hinges, however, the developers are doing all they can to create the best Dragon Age possible given the circumstances and tumultuous times we live in. The team has said many times that when they can, they will share so much about the next game, they’re excited to show things off, but for the moment, we’re just going to have to wait and let the teams do what they’ve got to do without putting any pressure or advocating crunch.
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