Dragon Age 4 will be "single-player focused", BioWare confirm
Plus they released two short stories for Dragon Age day
Since 2018, Dragon Age fans have celebrated an unofficial Dragon Age Day on December 4th, highlighting all sorts of community work and events. This year, BioWare got involved too, releasing new short stories and hosting charity streams. They also took the opportunity to remind fans that Dragon Age 4 is still on the way, confirming that it'll be singleplayer. Don't get your hopes up for Game Awards news though, because it sounds like we won't hear any more about it until 2022.
"We want to let you all know that we're still hard at work on building the next single-player focused experience for Dragon Age," BioWare wrote in a blog post. "We're excited for next year when we can talk more about what we're working on."
While there hasn't been a multiplayer-focused Dragon Age game, Dragon Age: Inquisition did have a multiplayer mode. It was four-player co-op and had you go on missions to deal with Inquisiton enemies. It didn't affect the game's campaign, and was designed to be live service (with premium currency and all). But it was a bit naff, and felt like a weird addition, especially given how much there was to do in Inquisition. While "single-player focused" implies they could have multiplayer on the side again, I hope BioWare don't bother with it. Their singleplayer stuff shines much brighter.
I had hoped we might get another glimpse at what they're working on during the Game Awards this week, seeing as that's where a lot of Dragon Age news has come from in previous years. In 2019, they teased the return of Varric in the below trailer, and gave us a look at the dark and sparkly Tevinter, the mage-ruled country where the next game will be set.
Alas, we'll likely be waiting a bit longer for more of these teases now. In the meantime though, BioWare have also released a couple of short stories set in the Dragon Age universe.
The first, Won't Know When, is about a pair of Grey Wardens who just finished battling an ogre. Antoine and Evka are a young couple that have cropped up before in Tevinter Nights, an anthology of Dragon Age stories, so it's possible BioWare are setting them up for something bigger. Though, they also talk about the Calling, so I reckon the devs are trying to remind us a bit about what's wrong with the Wardens. The Calling is something all Grey Wardens hear near death, and was a major plot point in Inquisition when every Warden began to hear it at the same time, after which order pretty much disappeared (you discover more about this in the game, and there are hints that they're looking for a cure).
The second, The Flame Eternal, is set in 9.22 Dragon, which BioWare say is thirty years ago. But seeing as the last events in Inquisition take place in 9.44, this could imply the next game is set in 9.52, eight years after what we last played. Speculation aside, this short story follows a pair of necromancers laying a soul to rest in the Grand Necropolis in Nevarra, a county we haven't yet visited in the games. I'd like to visit there, it sounds very spooky.
As a final part of the Dragon Age Day celebrations, fans also raised money for the charity AbleGamers through live streams, giveaways and more. While the festivities are over now, you can still donate, and at the time of writing they've raised over $25,000.