BioWare has taken to X, “The Everything App” to announce that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has gone gold and finished development. While a faintly anachronistic concept in an age of digital distribution and day one patches, it’s a show of confidence from BioWare that the nine-years-in-development game has indeed reached the finish line.
Beginning development in 2015 under former series lead Mike Laidlaw and with the code name “Joplin,” the fourth Dragon Age game was formally rebooted in 2018, allegedly to fit EA’s then live service-centric strategy. The game we now know as The Veilguard was then quietly retooled back into a single player experience after the studio’s catastrophe with Anthem. We knew the game for a long time as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, with BioWare periodically teasing that the RPG was still on the way. Amid these multiple name and direction changes, BioWare saw numerous high profile staff departures—some willing, and some from layoffs.
With all that Sturm and Drang, we at PCG found it easy to be pessimistic about The Veilguard. But while not all of us have been fully won over by its more actionized direction, the game’s had an impressive showing over a host of trailers this summer. PCG news writer Joshua Wolens had Veilguard’s measure at first blush: It really seems to be fantasy Mass Effect. While it’s certainly up for debate whether it’s a good thing that BioWare is leaving the last of its tactical RPG vestiges behind in favor of full-on action, PC Gamer associate editor Lauren Morton was impressed by what she saw in a hands-on session. The final game will tell for sure, but right now Mr. Market’s pretty (Iron) bullish on The Veilguard.
So it’s encouraging, particularly in an era of endemic last minute game delays, to see BioWare make this confident statement that The Veilguard is arriving on time. We’ll find out for sure if the long wait has been worth it on October 31.
