Dragon Age 4 was revealed years ago under the name Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. However, with seemingly months to go until the game’s fall 2024 release, BioWare has announced that it is changing the name of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Prior to this message, Game Informer visited BioWare’s Edmonton office for an exclusive look at the game for our Dragon Age: The Veilguard cover story. We learned here that the name has been changed.
I interviewed various Veilguard leaders for the cover, and one of the first questions I asked each of them was, “Why the name change?” Here’s what each of them told me:
BioWare leads to change the name of Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Veilguard game director Corinne Busche: “First and foremost, I’d say these games are reflections of the teams that make them, and part of that means we learn a lot about what the heart and soul of the game really is as we develop it. And we learned quickly and we realized that the authentic beating heart of this game is these authentic diverse companions. trying to build. We felt like we needed a title that represented what this game was really about.
Now I want to be clear: I adore Solas [and] he plays an important role in the game, but this is not a game for Solas. So in all the things we do, trying to capture that authentic experience, we felt the title really needed to change.”
Veilguard Creative Director John Eppler: “Dragon Age has always been about heroes, not just the villains, but your team, your companions, the other heroes in the world. And while we were building Dragon Age: The Veilguard – there’s an analogy that I like to use, which is, “If you want to carve an elephant out of marble, just take a piece of marble and remove everything that doesn’t look like an elephant.” While we were building this game, it became really clear that we weren’t trying to make The Veilguard, but rather The Veilguard was taking shape as we were making the game.
Solas is still a central figure in it. He is still a significant character. But actually the focus shifts to the team. It’s about the people you hire. It’s about stopping the end of the world with this group of specialists, these incredibly interesting and diverse characters that you recruit to your team. [We] I realized that Dreadwolf suggests an individual-focused title, while The Veilguard, like Inquisition, focuses more on the team.”
BioWare General Manager Gary McKay: “First, let me say: Solas is still a big part of this game. This is absolutely nothing to mean that he remains in the background. But when we thought about what was really the heart of this game, we really saw the companions jumping out at us, I think you could argue [these companions] are the best the franchise has ever seen. We have seven incredibly unique characters, each with their own personalities, motivations; they have deep stories and you have the opportunity to really interact with these characters in a way that shapes their story but also affects the main story, right down to being able to influence their fate.
It’s not just the story; they are also an integral part of the game. So when you look at it from what’s really the heart of this game, the central part of the game, it’s about the companions – the Veilguard. We felt that the title should reflect what we felt was the central part of this game.”
Former Dragon Age executive producer and Veilguard consultant Mark Darrah: “I think it’s absolutely the right choice. Names can gain momentum. You could say that this game has somehow been called Dreadwolf to some extent since its earlier days. As the game progresses, as [BioWare] understood exactly what it is, it’s very mature to step back and say, “We called it something. Does it still really reflect what the game is?’ And I think the fact that the team was willing to take that step is incredible and I think it’s absolutely the right decision.”
The salts in the room
When I asked about Solas’ role in the story after learning that his namesake is no longer in the game’s title, Darrah says that Veilguard is still taking the elven god’s narrative in a good direction. He adds: “Hopefully, this allows us to give a good conclusion to all the varied attitudes towards Solas that will come from people who love Solas, who agree with Solas, who hate Solas, people who want to kick Solas out of a building – I think we’re giving you an opportunity to finish that, but then tell a bigger story about The Veilguard and the world at large.”
Talking to Epler, I learn more about how Solas isn’t quite the big bad I was expecting before I saw the Veilguard hours. There are many more shades to everyone’s favorite bald elf.
“The most interesting villains to me, and frankly to most people, aren’t just straight up, ‘I want to end the world.’ To them, they’re the heroes of the story, and Solas is no exception,” Eppler tells me. “Solas always feels, that he’s a tragic hero, but a hero nonetheless, so he goes into it firmly believing that what he did, what you stopped him from doing, was the right thing—that you made a mistake. But now he’s in trap and cannot reach and actively influence [Thedas]so he should work with you.
“It allows us to provide a lot of nuance to that relationship,” Eppler says.
If you’re wondering what Eppler means when he says Solas is trapped, that’s quite literally—in the game’s prologue, which is part of a 20-minute gameplay segment recently released by BioWare (video above), the player character Rook and companions Lace Harding, Varrick Tetras, and Neve Gallus stop Solas’ attempt to destroy the Veil, a barrier between the magical Fade and Thedas. I won’t spoil exactly what happens here, but Rook passes out moments later and wakes up in a dream-like landscape to the voice of Solas himself… because he’s trapped here.
He explains that he was trying to move Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain, both of whom are part of the Evanuris or elven gods of old, into a new prison because the old one no longer contained them properly. Unfortunately for Solas, he is trapped here – the Fading – by our doing, and Elgar’nan and Gilan’nain are free, stricken and wandering Thedas. It’s up to Rook to stop them, but it looks like they’ll have to work with Solas (or at least listen to his guidance and advice) to do so.
“So one of the principles we took when we were building the story of The Veilguard in the beginning was that we wanted the beginning of the game to feel like the final chapter of an earlier story, and you come right at the end, you come as if you’ve been chasing Solas— the [Solas at the end of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC] who said he was going to end the world and bring down the Veil,” Eppler adds.
Eppler says that players will see early on (and as the narrative unfolds in Veilguard) that Solas sees a lot of himself in you, the player-controlled Top, especially “the parts that maybe he doesn’t like to face.” As a result, there is an interesting push and pull between Solas and Rook. He says that players can determine the relationship between these two characters with their choices in dialogue.
“You can continue to be suspicious and hostile towards him, or you can start to see him and find that common ground, that connection between the two of you, and really develop a different relationship over the course of the story,” Eppler says.
For more information on the game, including exclusive details, interviews, video features and more, click the Dragon Age: The Veilguard hub button below.
