Dragon Age 4 was revealed years ago under the name Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. However, a few months before the game’s release in fall 2024, BioWare announced that it was changing its name to Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Before this announcement Game guide visited BioWare’s Edmonton office to preview the exclusive game for our Dragon Age: The Veilguard cover story. This is where we found out the name had changed.
For the cover story, I interviewed the various main characters of Veilguard, and one of the first questions I asked each of them was, “Why the name change?” Here’s what everyone told me:
BioWare is leading on changing the name to Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Veilguard director Corinne Busche: “First of all, I would say that these games are a reflection of the teams that create them, and therefore this means that during its development we learn a lot about what the heart and soul of the game really is. We quickly learned and realized , that the absolute heart of this game are these true, diverse companions. When we take a step back, as always, we always check our decisions and make sure they still represent the game we are in. I just felt like we needed a title that reflected what the game was really about.
Veilguard Creative Director, John Epler: “Dragon Age has always been about characters, not just the villains, but also your team, your companions, and other characters in the world. When we were building Dragon Age: The Veilguard – an analogy I like to operate 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.” As we were developing this game, it became really clear that our intention was not to create The Veilguard, but rather that The Veilguard was taking shape as the game was being developed.
It’s not just history; they are also an integral part of the gameplay. So when you look at it from the point of view of the heart of this game, its central element, it’s about the companions – the Veilguard. We felt that the title needed to reflect what we felt was the core element of the game.
Solas In The Room
When I ask about Solas’ role in the story, upon learning that his namesake no longer appears in the game’s title, Darrah replies that Veilguard still steers the Elven God narrative in the right direction. He adds: “It allows us to hopefully summarize well all the different attitudes towards Solas that will come from people who love Solas, who agree with Solas, who hate him, people who want to throw him out of the building – I think that we’re giving you the opportunity to see it through to the end and then tell a bigger story about The Veilguard and the world as a whole.
Talking to Epler, I learn more that Solas isn’t as bad as I expected before I saw Veilguard’s opening hours. Everyone’s favorite bald elf has a lot more nuance to it.
“This allows us to add a lot of nuance to the relationship,” says Epler.
If you’re wondering what Epler means by Solas being trapped, it’s quite literal – 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, Varric Tethras, and Neve Gallus stop Solas from attempting to destroy the Veil, the barrier between the magical Void and Thedas. I won’t reveal exactly what’s happening here, but moments later Rook passes out and wakes up in a dream-like landscape, hearing the voice of Solas himself… because he’s trapped here.
He explains that he was trying to move Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain, both part of the age-old gods Evanuris, or elves, to a fresh prison because the aged one was no longer holding them properly. Unfortunately for Solas, he was trapped here – the Void – through our fault, and Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain are free, destroyed, and roaming 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 tips and advice) to do it.
Epler says players will quickly see (and as the Veilguard narrative progresses) that Solas sees a lot of himself in you, the player-controlled Tower, especially “the parts that he maybe doesn’t like to face.” As a result, there is an intriguing rivalry between Solas and Rook. He says that players can define the relationship between the two characters through their choices in dialogue.
“You can continue to be suspicious and hostile towards him, or you can start dating him and find some common ground, a bond between the two of you, and over the course of the story, a different relationship really develops,” Epler says.
For more information about the game, including exclusive details, interviews, videos and more, click the Dragon Age: The Veilguard hub button below.
