Dragon Age: The Veilguard‘s release date seems to have leaked early, with the long-awaited RPG sequel allegedly set to release on October 31.
EA and BioWare planned to reveal the game’s launch date later today, but the date was revealed ahead of time by a release date trailer uploaded to Streamable , spotted by the eagle-eyed Twitter account Wario64.
The launch date reveal was supposed to be the first step on The Veilguard’s tightly organised roadmap to release, but instead has become the latest stumble on what has proved a rough marketing road for BioWare’s fantasy RPG. In June, the game’s reveal trailer dropped to a decidedly mixed reception, as it introduced its characters as if they were avatars in a hero shooter. The subsequent gameplay reveal helped calm the waters a little, but still left some questioning BioWare’s trajectory for the series in a radically changing RPG landscape.
The release date for #DragonAge: The Veilguard will be revealed TOMORROW! We’re excited to share this moment with our fans with a release date trailer, and in the coming weeks we’ll also have high-level warrior combat gameplay, Companions Week, and more. 💜 Tune in to our… pic.twitter.com/Djft37NIh5August 14, 2024
It isn’t just the marketing side of the game that has raised eyebrows either. BioWare’s developers have also made some odd comments about the series, such as claiming that The Veilguard will be the first game in the series where “the combat’s actually fun” and where characters are “intentionally” the focus of the storytelling, both of which seems like a disservice to those earlier games. That said, there have been some more positive assertions from BioWare, such as its statement that the game’s structure will be “mission-based” rather than open world, and that players won’t be “gathering shards in the Hinterlands.”.
Although the release date itself may have spilled online early, the (now somewhat awkwardly named) release date reveal trailer will nonetheless arrive at 5pm BST/1pm ET , and will hopefully contain some more info about the game beyond said timing of the launch. This isn’t the only showcase BioWare has planned for August, either. Looking further ahead, on Monday BioWare will detail the game’s high-level combat and spotlight the PC version (which you can guarantee we’ll be watching like a Dragon eyes its hoard). This will be followed by “Companions week”, starting August 26, and a developer Discord Q&A on August 30. Let’s hope the rest of the roadmap runs a little smoother, and that what BioWare reveals gives us a clearer picture of how the RPG will actually play.