Summary
BioWareknows more than most people that it needs to come out swinging withDragon Age: The Veilguard. After two completely disastrous releases inMass Effect: AndromedaandAnthem, the studio needs a win to avoid embarrassing itself even further and avoid upsetting the Electronic Arts overlords.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is BioWare’s most important game in quite some time, and it seems there was a lot of discussion during pre-production as to how the studio could return to its glory days.In an interview with Game Informer, BioWare general manager Gary McKay explains that there was a lot of “iterating, experimenting, and innovating” with the Dragon Age series and what the next installment in the series should be.
It’s at this point that McKay reveals that BioWare once had the idea to make Dragon Age: The Veilguard a multiplayer game, which would have been a massive departure from a series that is exclusively made up of story-focused, single-player RPGs. Thankfully, that idea didn’t make it very far in pre-production, and BioWare decided to focus on doing what it does best instead.
At one point, it was multiplayer – we did a hard look at multiplayer, but we felt we really couldn’t return to our roots. And when we asked ourselves, ‘What is the game that we want to develop,’ we really wanted to get back to our roots, which is amazing storytelling.
BioWare Reveals Dragon Age: The Veilguard Was Once A Multiplayer Game
McKay continues by saying that a multiplayer game wouldn’t have allowed BioWare to create the “unforgettable characters” that the Dragon Age series is known for, but he’s glad for that time in pre-production and is “really excited” about what the team is working on at the moment.
Funnily enough, McKay’s comments about Dragon Age: The Veilguard being multiplayer does line up with previous rumors about the title before it was officially unveiled. Back in 2021, a report from Bloomberg claimed that the vastly different receptions for both Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Anthemallowed BioWare to scrap the live service elements from The Veilguard, and it’s difficult to imagine a live service game without some kind of multiplayer component.
It’s clear that a lot of effort has been put into making sure The Veilguard is a step in the right direction for BioWare, and judging fromthe positive previews that came out of Summer Game Fest, it’s a game that’s better than BioWare’s previous offerings. However,the game’s removal of blood magicandswitch to two companion partiesisn’t going down well, so we’ll have to wait and see how the final game turns out.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
WHERE TO PLAY
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the long-awaited fourth game in the fantasy RPG series from BioWare formerly known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. A direct sequel to Inquisition, it focuses on red lyrium and Solas, the aforementioned Dread Wolf.
