Rational Anthem
Sources inside Electronic Arts are claiming that the publisher has done a severe about-face on the development of its upcomingDragon Agesequel, pumping the brakes on the new title’s multiplayer components in the wake ofthe recent sunsettingof BioWare’sAnthem.
According to a report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the still-unnamedDragon Agesequel had its design concepts revised in 2017, with EA envisioning a multiplayer-centric affair, peppered with long-term monetization goals. This new take on theDragon Ageproject was allegedly described by some employees as “Anthemwith dragons,” and is supposedly what led to creative director Mike Laidlaw leaving the project entirely later in 2017.
The report states, however, that EA has been forced to further re-evaluateDragon Age‘s design following the devastating failure ofAnthem, which itself was designed as a multiplayer-centric, long-term-monetization vehicle. Equally as important to this turn of events is the success ofStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a single-player title that sold gangbusters despite, God Forbid, being a single-player title developed without a strict games-as-service model in mind. These two aspects, ultimately, may have saved the newDragon Agefrom a fate worse than cancellation,as EA has reportedly instructed the development team to go all-in on the fantasy adventure’s single-player campaign.
There’s still quite a while to go before fans can tread the ruins of Thedas once again, withDragon Agetentatively scheduled for release in the spring of 2022. But this news – if proven accurate – at least offers some form of hope to the fanbase that the long-awaited sequel might be back on track to deliver the epic narrative and encompassing adventure that made the franchise so enthralling in its heyday.
Electronic Arts pivots on Dragon Age game, removes multiplayer[Bloomberg /Eurogamer]
