The Production Problems With 'Dragon Age 4' Keep On Growing

Saying that Dragon Age 4 has been through a troubled development would be something between a draconian and a massive understatement. I'd like to attribute this to a curse cast upon the company for telling a story that paints an Inquisition of any sort as the good guys, but Bioware's problems started long before when EA swallowed the company. This acquisition resulted in the absolute destruction of the Mass Effect series, as well as the incredibly messy stillbirth of Anthem, Bioware's once upcoming big new series. Dragon Age 4 remains the last beacon of hope for Bioware, and things don't look great.

It feels like the company has to perform a ritual sacrifice every year, where they fire one of the game's top developers just to keep the project afloat. Back in 2019, the game lost its lead producer.

That's not a part-time firefighter they hired to deal with the flames engulfing the company's office, but a 12-year company veteran. This obviously didn't paint a very hopeful picture, but at least the company stayed nearly a year without any other major casualty. Unfortunately, however, 2020 saw the sacrifice departure of not one but two big names in the company, one of them was Dragon Age 4's executive producer Mark Darrah, the other Casey Hudson, merely the guy who'd come up with Mass Effect. In 2021, the short straw was picked by Matt Goldman, merely the game's creative director.

Just yesterday, we witnessed the departure of the game's other executive producer. Today, despite no gameplay to show for four years in development, the company stated that Dragon Age 4 is coming along just fine, something you probably should only believe if their statement is the only thing you've read in this entire article. 

Top Image: EA