Multiplayer is no more in Dragon Age 4
It was only recently that Anthem Next – a rework from BioWare to make Anthem the game it was always supposed to be – was announced to be scrapped. But the news from BioWare just keeps on coming, with the latest being that Dragon Age 4 will no longer include multiplayer and will be free to just be a single-player game.
This news comes from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who reports that Electronic Arts made a “major pivot” for Dragon Age 4 – which is not the official title, but will be used for this article. This pivot has led to all multiplayer components, whatever they are, to be removed from the game.
According to the report, the original vision of making Dragon Age 4 a ‘game as a service’ (GaaS) was due to EA perspective of live service games being profoundly important to the company’s future. And it has shown in almost all of EA’s most recent titles, whether it be by including DLC packs that players need to purchase, or by including optional gear and cosmetics that can be paid for with real money. However, that perspective shifted due to two games and their very different outcomes: the success of Respawn’s Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order and the absolute disaster that was BioWare’s Anthem.
Anthem was plagued by a number of problems, and while it had an incredible scope and vision that BioWare should be applauded for giving a go, it was ultimately a game that was unfinished and didn’t meet expectations. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order on the other hand was not only a Star Wars game, but a single-player experience that met “critical acclaim and outperformed EA’s sale expectations.” Two different games, two incredible different outcomes that, as theorized by the report, led to EA changing their tune in regards to Dragon Age 4.
Fans of BioWare’s fantasy series had originally been disappointed at hearing back in 2017 the development of the next Dragon Age had been rebooted for “long-term monetization.” The series started as an old-school, dark, gritty RPG after all, and for it to change so drastically was off-putting and led to some naming the new Dragon Age as “Anthem but with dragons.” From how the game development has been described in the past, it is an assumption that may have some merit to it.
Regardless, Dragon Age 4 will no longer have any live service shenanigans involved in its development. It will instead return to its roots – as a single-player RPG.
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