Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X
Genre: RPG/Action
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare
Release Date: Oct. 31, 2024

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Bioware Suffers Layoffs After 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' Puts Up Disappointing Sales

by Rainier on Jan. 29, 2025 @ 2:03 p.m. PST

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a true Dragon Age saga, full of exciting action and fully-realized companions who fight beside you as you explore new places within the world of Thedas.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard expands upon the Dragon Age stories, worlds and characters from previous games, where players will enter a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities – steeped in conflict and secret magics.

Enter the world of Thedas, a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities — all steeped in savage combat and secret magics. Now, the fate of this world teeters on a knife's edge. Thedas needs a new leader — one they'll never see coming. You'll forge a courageous fellowship to challenge the gathering storm. Friendship, drama, and romance will abound as you bring striking individuals together into an extraordinary team. Become the leader and light the beacon of hope in their darkest moments.

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you’ll embark on a quest to face powerful Elven gods and stop the destruction they’re unleashing on the world. You are known as Rook, battling on the front lines alongside a compelling cast of companions with individual storylines and motivations. In true Dragon Age fashion, companions are central to the experience and as Rook, you must rise up, rally your crew and forge relationships to become the unexpected leader others believe in.

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the Elven Trickster god of legend Solas wants to tear down the Veil that separates Thedas from the world of demons, restoring his people’s immortality and glory – even at the cost of countless lives. But his ritual goes awry, and his worst fears are realized, as two of his most ancient and powerful adversaries are released. They seek only to finish what they started millennia ago – the complete and utter domination of our world. Rook’s journey to stop these two powerful deities will span across all of Thedas to bustling cities, lush tropics, boreal forests, fettered swamps and the deepest depths, but be wary of the evil forces along the way like the Dark Spawn, Venatori Cultists and Demons of the Fade.

In its most recent financial results EA revealed that Dragon Age engaged approximately 1.5 million players during the quarter, down nearly 50% from the company’s expectations. It should then come as no surprise that Bioware is facing a crisis.

Hello Everyone,

Today, we are turning towards the future and preparing for the next chapter in BioWare’s story. As we announced in August 2023, we are changing how we build games to meet the needs of our upcoming projects and hold ourselves to the highest quality standards. 

Now that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been released, a core team at BioWare is developing the next Mass Effect game under the leadership of veterans from the original trilogy, including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others.

In keeping with our fierce commitment to innovating during the development and delivery of Mass Effect, we have challenged ourselves to think deeply about delivering the best experience to our fans. We are taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work at BioWare.

Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio. We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit.

Today’s news will see BioWare become a more agile, focused studio that produces unforgettable RPGs. We appreciate your support as we build a new future for BioWare.

Gary McKay

General Manager, BioWare

Each companion in Dragon Age: The Veilguard brings their own expertise to the field of battle, summoning the grit to stand together and face impossible odds. Throughout their adventures, players can mix and match different team combinations of two of the game's seven total companions at a time, to adapt to certain challenges and link powerful combinations that can turn the tide of any battle.

  • Bellara: The Veil Jumper - a creative and romantic Veil Jumper obsessed with uncovering ancient secrets
  • Davrin: The Warden - a bold and charming Grey Warden who has made a name for himself as a monster hunter
  • Emmrich: The Necromancer - a necromancer of Nevarra's Mourn Watch who comes complete with a skeletal assistant, Manfred
  • Harding: The Scout - the dwarven scout, returns to the fray as a companion with her big heart, a positive outlook, and a ready bow – as well as unexpected magical powers
  • Lucanis: The Mage Killer - a poised & pragmatic assassin who descends from the bloodline of the House of Crows, a criminal organization renowned throughout Thedas
  • Neve: The Detective - a cynic fighting for a better future, both as a private detective and a member of Tevinter's rebellious Shadow Dragons
  • Taash: The Dragon Hunter - a dragon hunter allied with the Lords of Fortune who lives for adventure and doesn't mind taking risks

As you play, you will be rallying a team of seven companions, each with their own rich lives and deep backstories – and each bringing their own expertise and unique abilities to the fight. Your companions are characters to befriend, lead, grow and even fall in love with. You are never alone. You get to choose who to take into battle with you –  and together you will face down demons, dragons and those corrupt gods on the battlefield.

Amongst these new companions that join the fray, you will recruit allies such as the Veil Jumper Bellara, the intriguing necromancer Emmrich, and the private detective Neve –  all coming from iconic factions in Dragon Age lore, and each possessing individual skill trees and specialized gear for advanced team progression. Dragon Age fans will spot some familiar faces, too, such as the archer Lace Harding who returns to the series as a full time companion.

Key Features:

  • Fellowship: Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s brand new companions come alive with some of the most compelling individual storylines in Dragon Age history. Expansive and dynamic stories navigate love, loss and complex choices that will affect your relationships and the fate of each member of the Veilguard. New companions like the Veil Jumper Bellara, the necromancer Emmrich, and the private detective Neve, come from iconic factions in Dragon Age lore, possessing individual skill trees and specialized gear for advanced team progression. You’ll see familiar faces, too, such as the archer Lace Harding who returns to the series as a full time companion.
  • Choice and Consequences: Dragon Age: The Veilguard builds on the series’ deep role-playing roots, providing extraordinary storytelling and worldbuilding, deep personalities for each companion, meaningful choices and impactful cinematic moments. The bonds you create and the relationships you forge will be affected by your choices made throughout your journey. 
  • A Crafted Experience: As a character-driven RPG, Dragon Age: The Veilguard delivers a crafted experience that pays homage to BioWare’s history of storytelling. The Lighthouse provides a central place where you can rest, learn more about the world through conversations, while the Crossroads allows you to traverse to separate explorable regions of the world with your companions. You’ll experience more of Thedas than ever before as your story unfolds across meticulously crafted biomes and beautiful regions including Rivain, Weisshaupt, Arlathan, Minrathous, the Deep Roads and more, each inviting you to delve deeper into the narrative and uncover the mysteries of the land.
  • Fluid, Customizable Combat: Immersive combat blends fluid moment-to-moment controls with tactical decision-making. Players can fully customize their experience to fit their playstyle with diverse skill trees among three different classes - Warrior, Mage and Rogue - each with unique abilities and specializations. Choose two companions to join you on your quests and unleash powerful team combos that can change the tide of any battle. Make strategic choices and direct your allies to fight, heal or stay out of the fray with the newly-added ability wheel.
  • Be the Leader You Want To Be: Dragon Age: The Veilguard features a robust character creation system that allows you to be the leader you want to be with a vast range of customization. BioWare has created the most comprehensive character creator in Dragon Age yet to make this story truly your own.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is available for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.


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