Ex-Dragon Age director’s new studio teases their new fantasy RPG ahead of a full reveal next week
The as-yet untitled 'ambitious action RPG' has a clean look - and a giant
More than three years after former Dragon Age lead designer Mike Laidlaw was revealed to have joined forces with fellow games industry veterans behind the likes of Assassin’s Creed under newfounded studio Yellow Brick Games, the developers are finally teasing their first game. And yup, it’s definitely a fantasy game!
Honestly, that’s mostly what can be gleaned from the brief tour through some clean-looking fantasy environments - including staples like a set of grand-looking ruins, rocky hillsides and lush forested paths - in a sub-30-second tease for the studio’s as-yet untitled debut.
We do get to see a sort of blue warg-looking dog-creature wandering around before the trailer closes with a glimpse at a hammer-wielding giant who looks to be clad in chunky stone armour too, though, potentially hinting at the kinds of enemies we might be taking on and the vibe of its fantasy setting.
Yellow Brick have previously described their upcoming debut as an “ambitious new action RPG” built around “emergent systems” that aim to “create rich, interactive worlds”. What that actually means in an age of the emergent gameplay seen in the likes of Dragon's Dogma 2 and Baldur's Gate 3, however, remains to be seen. (Update: This article previously referred to Private Division as the publishers of Yellow Brick's first game; alongside the teaser, the developers announced that they would now be self-publishing their debut.)
Laidlaw, of course, might inspire more confidence than most, having famously led Dragon’s Age during nearly 15 years at BioWare. He then went on to a brief stint at Ubisoft Quebec, reportedly working on a cancelled Arthurian fantasy game, before leaving in early 2020 to co-found Yellow Brick alongside Ubisoft, Activision and EA vets Jeff Skalski, Frédéric St-Laurent B. and Thomas Giroux. Laidlaw is serving as chief creative officer for the studio, with St-Laurent B directing their debut.
Their teaser video hints at when we might learn more about their long-awaited debut: April 2nd, via IGN First. That’s next Tuesday, so mark it in your calendars accordingly and take a collective breath for the next fantasy RPG that might absorb every hour of your free time.