Dragon Age 4 has lost its executive producer midway through development, but it isn’t all bad news for BioWare’s upcoming fantasy RPG.
A new BioWare blog update (opens in new tab) from studio general manager Gary McKay broke the news of Christian Dailey’s departure. Dailey’s role as executive producer on Dragon Age 4 put him at the head of development, and before that he also worked as a studio director on the canceled Anthem 2.0 refresh project. Dailey added on his personal Twitter account (opens in new tab) that the “Dragon Age team is killing it and the game is in amazing hands.”
Dailey’s departure follows a trend of high-profile exits from BioWare, including the recent resignation of Dragon Age 4 creative director Matt Goldman. Likely anticipating concerns from players of the state of the game, McKay also included an update on its current development status.
“For the next Dragon Age, we are right in the middle of production, which is a great feeling,” McKay wrote. “Our blueprint was completed last year, so we’re now focused on building out our vision: creating amazing environments, deep characters, strong gameplay, impactful writing, emotional cinematics – and much more. The blueprint for the game is well understood and the team is focused.”
Dragon Age 4 was officially announced back in 2018, and it wouldn’t be unusual for a game project to be started, finished, and released in the same stretch of time that has seen Dragon Age 4 get into production. That said, it sounds like plans for the project have shifted substantially from its initial concept, which will inevitably lead to a longer timeline.
Recent reports indicate that Dragon Age 4 will launch in 2023, with no plans for a remastered trilogy like Mass Effect Legendary Edition.