Dragon Age III: Inquisition announced, built on new engine

We all knew it was coming eventually, and today BioWare and Electronic Arts confirmed our suspicions by announcing the next Dragon Age game. Dragon Age III: Inquisition is its name, and even though we don't know much about it at all, there are still a few talking points to get excited about. For starters, it'll be landing sometime in late 2013, but don't be fooled into thinking that this latest installment is being rushed out the door.

The game was announced in a BioWare Blog post penned by longtime employee Mark Darrah. He spends most of the blog post talking about past projects he's been a part of, ranging from the very first Baldur's Gate (along with Tales of the Sword Coast, BGII, and Throne of Bhaal) all the way up to the Dragon Age series, which has him in the role of executive producer. He'll be playing a major role in the development of Dragon Age III as weels, and assures readers that the DAIII team consists of BioWare veterans and talented newcomers alike. Specifically, Darrah states that many of the people who worked on Dragon Age: Origins have returned to work on Dragon Age III.

As stated above, Darrah doesn't get too specific when it comes to Dragon Age III details, but he does let a few interesting tidbits loose. He isn't willing to talk about story at this early point, but he does say that series fans should be able to figure some stuff out from the title alone. Dragon Age III has been in development for the past two years, with production ramping up about 18 months ago. Even better is that BioWare will be using a new engine with Dragon Age III, with DICE's impressive Frostbite 2 engine serving as the foundation.

That's it as far as actual information goes, and it seems that this blog post is geared more toward reassuring fans that Dragon Age III will be worth their time than anything else. To some fans, BioWare has been slipping lately – many fans complained loudly about Dragon Age II's move away from the gameplay in Origins, and even more complained about the ending in Mass Effect 3, which many felt was ultimately a big letdown when held up against the rest of the series. With this blog post, BioWare is suggesting that its getting back to its roots with Dragon Age III, and if the studio is serious about that, then it should have no problem getting back into the good graces of longtime fans. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more information about Dragon Age III – we're expecting new details soon, and we'll share them when we have them!