The next Dragon Age game is no longer called Dreadwolf: Bioware announced today that, to better "capture what this game is all about," it has changed the title to Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
The change, BioWare general manager Gary McKay explained in a blog post, was made to take the focus off of the villainous Dread Wolf, who's been at the center of what little we've seen of the game so far, and put it instead on the player and his trusty crew of NPCs.
"Each of the seven unique characters that make up your companions will have deep and compelling storylines where the decisions you make will impact your relationships with them—as well as their lives," McKay wrote. "You’ll unite this team of unforgettable heroes as you take on a terrifying new threat unleashed on the world. Naturally, the Dread Wolf still has an important part in this tale, but you and your companions—not your enemies—are the heart of this new experience."
"So, to capture what this game is all about, we changed the name as the original title didn’t show just how strongly we feel about our new heroes, their stories and how you’ll need to bring them together to save all of Thedas."
I'll cut to the chase here: This is not a good title. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was a cool title. Dragon Age: The Veilguard, well, that sounds like something 14-year-old me would've cooked up in a dog-eared binder while failing biology. There's an obvious connection to the Dragon Age lore, yes—the Veil is a pretty important part of the world—but it doesn't convey anything in the way Dreadwolf does. I see the word "Dreadwolf" and I instinctively know that some bad shit is happening; "The Veilguard" just makes me think that this is something decided by a committee.
Also, what is with the "The" in there? Why not just "Dragon Age: Veilguard?" It's still nowhere near as good as Dreadwolf but at least it's not so easy to trip over.
Anyway, the good news amidst all of this is that BioWare will show off some Dragon Age: The Veilguard: The Gameplay next week, with a 15 minute clip "from the opening moments of the game" set to air on June 11 at 8 am PT/11 am ET, on YouTube. In the meantime, print editor Robert Jones recently shared some thoughts about the next Dragon Age game, which—and this was all before the awful title change—has him just a little bit worried.
