Dragon Age: Dreadwolf renamed ahead of gameplay reveal, will now be called The Veilguard

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, the fourth much-anticipated instalment in BioWare’s Dragon Age franchise, is getting a new name ahead of its major reveal presentation later this month. In an effort to shine more of a spotlight on the game’s protagonists than its antagonist, the game will now be called Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

BioWare Executive Producer Gary McKay announced the name change for its upcoming RPG on its official blog. The post goes into detail regarding the many different directions the game’s development has gone since the 2014 release of Dragon Age: Inquisition (including publicly acknowledging the rumoured and fortunately abandoned pivot to an online multiplayer-focused experience).

In relation to why the game’s name has been changed, McKay writes that “each of the seven unique characters that make up your companions will have deep and compelling storylines where the decisions you make will impact your relationships with them – as well as their lives. You’ll unite this team of unforgettable heroes as you take on a terrifying new threat unleashed on the world. Naturally, the Dread Wolf still has an important part in this tale, but you and your companions – not your enemies – are the heart of this new experience.”

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been in some form of development since at least 2018, with the game only getting an official title two years ago. Due to it being nearly a full decade since the last major entry, Dragon Age: Inquisition, released, the game has the somewhat difficult challenge of both rekindling interest in this otherwise dormant franchise and attracting interest from players who may well have been too young to play the original games (or indeed, not even born yet when Dragon Age: Origins first released back in 2009). As such, renaming the game to focus not on Solas, a returning character from Dragon Age: Inquisition, to instead spotlight the new characters being introduced in this entry, is perhaps a canny move to help the game stand more on its own in the way that Baldur’s Gate 3 managed to appeal to a wide audience who had never played another Baldur’s Gate game before.

At any rate, we will find out new details quite soon. Over 15 minutes of gameplay will be shown off on the Dragon Age YouTube channel at 8am on June 11th PT (that’s 1am on June 12th AEST, unfortunately) where we will finally get a firm understanding of the game’s setting, plot and characters.