Launched in December 2020, BioWare: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development is a comprehensive retrospective of the studio’s history, including concept art, project info, and anecdotes from employees. It also features a “sneak peek at the follow-up to Inquisition”. Cue dramatic music.
The sequel has been in production since 2017, but besides one or two ambiguous trailers, we don’t know much about Dragon Age 4. According to Eurogamer’s Tom Phillips, however, we now know that the game re-introduces Tevinter – previously featured in Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser expansion – as a major location, with other clues suggesting that its neighbour provinces Antiva and Nevarra will also appear.
Finally picked up the BioWare book and hey is this the first *official* confirmation Dragon Age 4 is set in Tevinter? (I know we all sort of guessed this already) pic.twitter.com/229xriPbof
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsEG) January 24, 2021
“Artwork of a glittering city surrounded by water almost certainly shows Antiva City, the capital of Antiva, an area which borders Tevinter to the east. Concept art for an Antivan Crow is also shown; a theatrical assassin ‘celebrated for their mastery of stylish slaying’ who wears an elaborate mask, wields a glowing sword, and has several actual crow sidekicks,” writes Phillips.
“There’s also an image of the skeletal Mourn Watch, who ‘guard Thedas from occult threats’ and hang out in a Necropolis. While this location isn’t further identified, necropolises are used in Nevarra, another area of Thedas, whose citizens are known for mummifying their dead. Nevarra borders Tevinter to the south.”
With the recent exit of Dragon Age series executive producer Mark Darrah from BioWare, publisher EA’s Laura Miele has insisted that development of the next game won’t be interrupted, promising that she “could not be more confident or optimistic” about the studio’s future prospects.