Brandon Collins 
Following the announcement that Bioware has laid off roughly 50 people, reports are coming forward that Dragon Age 4: Dreadwolf has been hit with a major delay.
Jeff Grubb, speaking on Game Mess Mornings in response to the job cuts at Bioware, revealed that the title in the studio’s flagship series was initially targeted for a September 2023 release. This release date has been pushed back significantly after multiple shakeups in the studio’s staff.
This combination of bad news has fans worried for the future of the legendary RPG studio, which continues to suffer setbacks in the development of its next major title. Meanwhile, the franchise it helped create, Baldur’s Gate, experiences overwhelming success under the stewardship of Larian Studios.
When is Dragon Age: Dreadwolf coming out?
The new release window of Dragon Age: Dreadowolf is reportedly summer 2024, but this isn’t certain. Grubb speculated it may be pushed back even further.
After a development plagued with delays and staff turnover, Dreadwolf is likely set to be released around a decade after the last entry in the series, Dragon Age: Inquisition. The decade since Dragon Age: Inquisition’s launch has been a particularly tough time for a studio that was previously among the most beloved in the gaming industry.
Bioware’s most recent titles, Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, were panned by fans and received middling reviews from critics. This has seen the prestigious studio’s reputation faltering. Longtime fans are hoping that EA doesn’t decide to bury the beloved developers next to Bullfrog Productions and Pandemic Studios.
Will Dragon Age: Dreadwolf be any good?
Fans have criticized Dragon Age: Dreadwolf for a perceived move away from RPG gameplay.
While the game’s publisher EA Games has been miserly when it comes to releasing media for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, gamers were seemingly given a sneak peek. In early 2023, Redditor /u/revanchisto posted what they claim to be a series of screenshots and GIFs from an alpha version of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. These have since been deleted but spread across the internet quickly.
Several notable things can be gleaned from the alleged leak. The most controversial is the series’ seeming move in an action-orientated, hack-and-slash direction that has been likened to God of War. This would continue the trend that began in Dragon Age 2, seemingly finalizing the end of Dragon Age’s original RPG style of gameplay.
For fans of the lore, the great intrigue was battles taking place during a Darkspawn assault on the ancient Grey Warden fortress of Weisshaupt. A potential trip to Weisshaupt has been teased since Dragon Age: Origins and finally getting to visit the ancient fortress right as it’s overrun by the blight seems a poignantly tragic way to open the game.
