Former Bioware Dev Reveals Incredibly Ambitious Pitch for Dragon Age 4

Former BioWare employee Mark Darrah recently revealed the ambitious vision for what would have been Dragon Age 4, before the studio was closed down by EA. Darrah, who worked at BioWare from 1997 to 2021, shared a pitch book that aimed to keep the studio relevant and prevent it from becoming a "starvation diet." According to Darrah, the document was intended to showcase the team's capabilities and demonstrate that Dragon Age: Inquisition was a major success, prompting EA to revive the Dragon Age series.

The original plan for Dragon Age 4, internally called Joplin, was a highly interactive game with decisions that had significant consequences on the world, such as a player-led heist. The game would also feature destructible environments and a dynamic world influenced by weather and natural phenomena. Darrah explains that many elements from Joplin made it into Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which was released in 2024.

However, Darrah also notes that the vision was essentially a form of "propaganda" for EA producers, and that certain aspects of the game would never have come to fruition due to internal team disagreements. He emphasizes that while the pitch book is not a direct representation of the final game, the vision for Joplin would have been closer to what Dragon Age 4 ultimately became than the actual Veilguard.