Dragon Age: Origins debuted in 2009, Dragon Age II debuted in 2011 and Dragon Age: Inquisition debuted in 2014. The developers are making fans wait a little longer between each successive Dragon Age game, and the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is no exception. Eight years (and counting) after Inquisition, fans are still waiting on a lot of concrete details about the next entry in BioWare's sprawling high fantasy saga.
However, at least the end of this torturous vacuum of fresh information has a (vague) end date. BioWare has confirmed that fans should expect to hear more details about Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in 2022. Alongside this tease comes confirmation that the game will be "single-player focused" — which has certainly gone down well with fans.
We also know a few things about Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, including a basic premise and suspected villain. Information beyond that, however, is largely speculative and uncertain — owing, perhaps, to a tumultuous development history. Here's everything we know about Dragon Age: Dreadwolf so far.
Dragon Age 4 latest news (updated Dec. 5)
- We got our first glimpse of in-game footage from Dragon Age: Dreadwolf
- Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will be the game's official title
- BioWare has provided a substantial update about Dragon Age 4's development process on the company's official blog.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf release date speculation
There's no concrete information around a potential release date for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. The previous three main games haven't followed a release cycle so this is very difficult to guess at.
BioWare has confirmed that the game will not launch in 2022.
Despite this release date blow, should hear more about the game later this year. We're hoping that BioWare has been beavering away on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf quietly and that we could then see the game come out at some point in 2023, but that may be wishful thinking on our part.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf trailer
At The Game Awards 2018, BioWare showed off a very short teaser trailer for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. You can watch it here:
As you can tell, there's not a whole lot there: Just some armor, a magical trinket and the silhouette of Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf: one of the gods in the Dragon Age pantheon. There are also two lines of dialogue from the traitorous mage, Solas: "You've found me at last. I suspect you have questions."
One interesting tidbit, though: The trailer ends with a hashtag, #TheDreadWolfRises. This was a hint about the game's eventual title.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf story
To summarize the whole saga of Dragon Age would take more time than I have in this particular article, but here are the broad strokes. Spoilers ensue, particularly for Dragon Age: Inquisition.
In Dragon Age: Origins, you take control of an adventurer who swears his or herself to the Grey Wardens. This ancient order exists to fight against the invasive Darkspawn, and their draconic master, the Archdemon. If left unchecked, the Archdemon can summon a Blight that will wipe out all life in the high-fantasy world of Thedas. By recruiting a party, making alliances with powerful nations and performing a tremendous sacrifice, the Grey Warden defeats the Archdemon and saves the world — for now.
Dragon Age II tells a much more personal story, centered on the Hawke family in the city of Kirkwall. Taking place before, during and after the events of Origins, you play as Hawke (first name: up to you), the son or daughter of a noble household trying to make your way in the world. Dragon Age II's story is picaresque and takes you in a variety of different directions, but the central conflict is between the Mages, who want freedom from an oppressive religious order, and the Templars, who see themselves as the last line of defense against a demonic uprising.
Dragon Age: Inquisition ties these two stories together, to some extent. Hoping to avoid a full-scale war between the Mages and the Templars, the most powerful people in Thedas convene a conference. But a magical explosion kills all in attendance, save for a lone survivor who sets out to investigate the matter. He or she becomes an Inquisitor, who must build up a grassroots support network all around the continent, with the ultimate goal of defeating a demon who seeks to manipulate both the Mages and the Templars for his own gain.
In Inquisition, one of your party members is Solas: an enigmatic mage who is never 100% clear on why he's joined your quest. After you defeat the final boss, he leaves the party entirely. (There is some postgame content that you can complete with other companions.) During the Trespasser expansion — Inquisitions' final piece of downloadable content — you finally reconvene with Solas, who reveals that he is really Fen'Harel: the Dread Wolf. And he wants revenge on Thedas for making his race, the elves, into second-class citizens.
The Inquisitor realizes that Solas knows the party too well, and that any action against him will have to come from a brand-new group of adventurers. So, it seems safe to say that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will involve — at least in some capacity — a new protagonist leading a (mostly) new group of heroes against the Dread Wolf.
Of course, knowing BioWare's propensity for twists and turns, it probably won't turn out to be quite that simple. But it's a good place to start. We'll share more about Dragon Age: Dreadwolf whenever BioWare elects to reveal more information.
