BioWare tries to dampen worries of microtransactions in its unofficially announced Dragon Age sequel

Given the impending return of microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II after EA’s recent controversy, the publisher has expressed its support of monetisation and said that the practice can be good for games. This has sparked worries regarding the recently announced Dragon Age sequel, however CEO Andrew Wilson says that the controversy has been a learning experience for the company.

The new Dragon Age was unofficially announced last week, with BioWare General Manager Casey Hudson revealing that it will be “story & character focused” and that while it will follow the trend of including live elements like other EA titles, it simply means “designing a game for continued storytelling after the main story” has finished. So, essentially, downloadable content (DLC) and extra events.

Reading lots of feedback regarding Dragon Age, and I think you’ll be relieved to see what the team is working on. Story & character focused.

Too early to talk details, but when we talk about “live” it just means designing a game for continued storytelling after the main story.

— Casey Hudson (@CaseyDHudson) January 25, 2018

Fans weren’t convinced, however, with the inevitable reintroduction of microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront II and EA’s emphasis on its belief in the monetisation system mixed with the unofficial announcement particularly focusing on “live” elements. CEO Andrew Wilson made sure to step up to assure everyone that EA has learned from its mistakes, taking into account all that happened with Battlefront II as a learning experience.

Microtransactions are likely to be present in the next Dragon Age, but Wilson wants them to be “done right” in all future titles. Considering EA has shown that it has been listening to fans regarding the release date of Anthem being pushed back in favour of not smothering its own titles by launching them too close together similar to the Titanfall 2 incident, it is entirely possible that the company is indeed learning.

KitGuru Says: It shouldn’t be too surprising that microtransactions are expected to appear in a Dragon Age game. After all the last title in the series, Inquisition had some pay-to-win elements with its multiplayer loot boxes. Hopefully this is the first step in EA numbing the effect the practice has on gameplay however, perhaps focusing on cosmetics from here on out.

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