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Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was first announced at The Game Awards 2018, but a lot has happened since then. Because of Dragon Age 4's Joplin Project being canceled, Anthem's launch struggles and ultimate failure, and a loss of faith in BioWare, many are concerned about the game. In the same vein, it's an incredibly popular franchise and many are eagerly anticipating news on the next game, as well as its eventual release, if with trepidation.
However, the proof is in the pudding, and all BioWare can do is keep its head down, work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, and eventually, hopefully put out a title that is worthy of the name. What BioWare is doing well right now is communicating with its fans. There have been a few teaser trailers, but nothing concrete in that department yet. However, BioWare has issued a few community updates, confirmed the official title of the game, and recently stated Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was in its alpha state. This is no doubt a major step for development and plenty of reason for fans to be excited, but discourse surrounding this announcement online has pointed to one detail that, well, shouldn't matter here.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Should Not Be Rushed, Now More Than Ever
In the community update, BioWare highlighted how it could now play Dragon Age: Dreadwolf from start to finish, with its work now focused on bringing its visual fidelity to scale, iterating on any needed features, and making sure the game as a whole is consistent in its storytelling. There's much more work to be done than that, of course, as this is just a step in the development, not the endgame. Many fans have pointed toward Dragon Age: Inquisition's alpha declaration to release timeline (which was roughly 6-9 months), as well as Anthem's (which was much shorter) to try to pinpoint Dragon Age: Dreadwolf's release date.
If 9 months from now, that would point toward a summer 2023 release, with six months putting that closer to this coming Spring. Previous reports have suggested Dragon Age: Dreadwolf would release in late 2023, if not early 2024, and that's much better for the game instead of speculation on the alpha timeline. Dragon Age: Inquisition's launch didn't show it as much, but BioWare relying on short timelines and "BioWare magic" led some games like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem to under perform at launch. Just because Dreadwolf is in Alpha doesn't mean it should be running headlong into a release date.
Again, it's a major step -- but still is just a step. Many fans have been patient for this long, and asking for more may be like pulling teeth. However, it would be much better if BioWare continues its work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf at a reasonable pace, touches up everything it wants to, and continues this work for another year if needed (or two, or three, though it's not that dramatic). Adhering to some arbitrary timeline would not be good for the game, and Dragon Age: Dreadwolf should not be Anthem or Mass Effect: Andromeda. It should be Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is in development.