Dragon Age: The Veilguard directors hint we won’t see many returning characters as cameos “cheapen” the experience

There’s a swelling mass of Dragon Age games now, many of them with their own expansions, each with a unique and expansive cast of characters. However, it seems as though the experience in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is going to be focused on its new cast, rather than pulling from the old.

At a recent preview event for Bioware’s next game, PCGamer reported that John Epler, creative director on Veilguard, said that the inclusion of old characters “comes down to: do they have more of a story to tell?”

“We don’t want to just bring back characters so you can be like ‘hey, I recognise that person!’ But certain characters have more to their story … Do we have something interesting to say with them? Do they have an interesting role? And does their story progress as a result of what they do or what they don’t do in the story we’re telling right now?’

Corinne Busche, game director, then chimed in: “it’s great to see cameos, but fan service can sometimes be exciting in the moment but ultimately cheapen the arcs and the authenticity of these characters.”

Marvel and Disney could have done with a force like Busche when they were brainstorming Deadpool vs Wolverine.

Since Inquisition (2014), there’s been a long wait for Dragon Age fans to return to their safe place. With Anthem having released between Inquisition and Veilguard, the reality is that many players are pretty starved of their fan favourites. Unfortunately for them, it’s unlikely that they will all feature. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be a single cameo – just that they will be used very sparingly.

Spoilers below.

Update: Below, we had reported that Morrigan was not going to feature in Veilguard. Of course, they are in the trailer. We apologise for that oversight.

Steve Valentine, who voices Alistair, has confirmed they won’t be in Veilguard, as has Claudia Black, the voice of Morrigan. Furthermore, Freddie Prinze Jr confirmed that he won’t be returning as Iron Bull in since-deleted tweets.

A character that many are expecting to return in Veilguard is Leilana. With recurring appearances in Origins, II, and Inquisition, it seems as though most people are gearing up to see the spymaster once again.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be available at the end of October.

About the Author

Amaar Chowdhury

Amaar is a gaming journalist with an interest in covering the industry's corporations. Aside from that, he has a hankering interest in retro games that few people care about anymore.