Today, Kotaku’s Jason Schreier put together a report on BioWare’s upcoming Dragon Age sequel, tentatively titled Dragon Age 4 and codenamed Morrison. We already know about the previous iteration of the sequel, known as Joplin, but what’s coming with Morrison? Having spoken to various anonymous sources, Schreier noted that Matt Goldman, who was the art director for Dragon Age: Inquisition and Joplin, is now the creative director, while Mark Darrah is executive producer (while also staying on for Anthem).
The report also noted that for now, the game’s multiplayer is still undecided. Not only is the project very early in development, but the negative reaction to Anthem could have an effect on how it turns out. Interestingly, one rumour pegged Morrison as being “Anthem with dragons” (and not in a good way, it seems). That being said, several employees dismissed that notion. “The idea was that Anthem would be the online game and that Dragon Age and Mass Effect, while they may experiment with online portions, that’s not what defines them as franchises. I don’t think you’ll see us completely change those franchises,” noted one source.
It’s also not clear if Morrison will have an offline branch, even if it’s technically possible to do so. One individual said that the main story or critical path would be single-player focused and that the multiplayer will engage players long enough after launch. An interesting idea that’s apparently been discussed is to allow for companions that players could control via drop-in and drop-out co-op. Quests could also change based on the decisions made by all players.
That being said, a lot is still up in the air. Concerning the team working on Morrison, one current employee noted, “They have a lot of unanswered questions. Plus I know it’s going to change like five times in the next two years.”
How long will it be until Dragon Age 4 releases? Will it suffer the same problems as Anthem did during development? Or will BioWare stick with a coherent vision while catering to the live-service model? It’s too early to tell, so stay tuned in the coming months (and years) for more information.
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