Dragon Age 4 has reportedly dropped multiplayer following Anthem’s flop

Electronic Arts has reportedly allowed BioWare to drop all planned multiplayer features from Dragon Age 4, which will now be a single player RPG rather than a live service game.

That’s according to a Bloomberg report, which claims the publisher had a change of heart after BioWare’s last live service game Anthem flopped, while Respawn’s single-player title Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order surpassed expectations.

Earlier this week BioWare announced that it had cancelled plans to reboot Anthem and would be focusing its efforts on the new Dragon Age, upcoming Mass Effect titles and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

In contrast, EA has suggested that Respawn will create a Jedi: Fallen Order sequel after the November 2019 release topped 10 million sales.

Four months after Anthem’s February 2019 release, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said he expected games as a service to become “foundational” to the industry as technology and playing habits evolved.

However, according to Bloomberg’s sources, the new Dragon Age has in recent months transformed into a single-player-only game.

A team of about 30 people that had been working on Anthem’s redesign will reportedly now support development of the next Dragon Age instead.

BioWare released the first full trailer for the new Dragon Age game in December 2020, when the studio said it was “still in early production”.

EA said last October that it doesn’t expect the Dragon Age 4 to arrive before April 2022.

Further reading

BioWare ‘making progress’ on Dragon Age 4 but ‘working from home is harder’

Executive producer gives an update on the next entry in the fantasy series