Why Dragon Age: Inquisition dropped the 3

BioWare's next Dragon Age is no longer called Dragon Age 3. Instead, it's called Dragon Age: Inquisition. So, why did EA decide to drop the number?

13

A new trend hitting the games industry: getting rid of the number in the title. BioWare's next Dragon Age is no longer called Dragon Age 3. Instead, it's simply called Dragon Age: Inquisition. So, why did EA decide to drop the number?

"It's a tactical marketing decision," EA's Frank Gibeau admitted. "There wasn't anything that strategic about it, to be blunt. We just wanted to draw more attention to the fact that Inquisition is an all-new chapter inside of the Dragon Age universe, as opposed to people expecting a follow-on to Dragon Age 1 and 2 in a literal, linear sense."

"We felt like we wanted to bring more attention to the word Inquisition, because that's more the story arc of what it's like," Gibeau told IGN. "There's a whole bunch of gameplay and features and big story choices related to how you go through this Inquisition that happens in the world."

The move away from numbers not only frees EA and BioWare to go after new players, but it could also help distance the game away from Dragon Age 2, a game well received by critics but less so by fans.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 20, 2013 2:05 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Why Dragon Age: Inquisition dropped the 3.

    BioWare's next Dragon Age is no longer called Dragon Age 3. Instead, it's called Dragon Age: Inquisition. So, why did EA decide to drop the number?

    • reply
      June 20, 2013 2:11 PM

      Final Fantasy: Finally

    • reply
      June 20, 2013 2:12 PM

      Because their two previous 3s were either heavily flawed in the ending or damaged. (ME3 / Dead Space 3, respectively).

      BattleField 3, on the other hand, was just right. If you like unlocks.

      • reply
        June 21, 2013 3:10 AM

        what was wrong with Dead Space 3? aside from it not being scary?

        • reply
          June 21, 2013 4:20 AM

          Hypercharged enemies making the combat less strategic and enjoyable by removing the need for strategic dismemberment, overlong campaign with pacing problems, lackluster story and characters and a few balancing problems and gameplay tweaks that didn't pan out (unified ammo, two weapon limit).

          • reply
            June 21, 2013 7:11 AM

            Also, the complete nullification of the horror elements from the first game (which is part of bad pacing, as enyakk mentioned).

    • reply
      June 20, 2013 2:40 PM

      I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!

    • reply
      June 20, 2013 3:06 PM

      It seems weird to me that they'd say that, given that the E3 trailer showed characters from the two previous games.

    • reply
      June 20, 2013 6:45 PM

      They didn't want to remind gamers how awful DA2 was.

    • reply
      June 20, 2013 7:08 PM

      because theyre afraid its going to suck like 2, and 2 didnt deserve the sequel numbering either

      • reply
        June 20, 2013 8:07 PM

        ^^^^ this

        2 was like some crappy kids just out of high school were told "hey, we don't give a shit about our IP, here's one at random.. uhh Dragon Age.. just go ahead and make something and we'll slap our shit on it and call it Dragon Age "2". Knock yourselves out, oh and since you don't know what the fuck you're doing, just copy/paste all the levels, dumb it down, and while you're at it - please destroy the shit out of one character from the original that everyone liked and make him nonsensical and hated by the fans.

        It was a success on many levels.

        • reply
          June 20, 2013 8:13 PM

          haha that is totally what its like. thanks for the post

        • reply
          June 20, 2013 8:18 PM

          haha

        • reply
          June 21, 2013 5:41 AM

          You know, I recently replayed through all my Dragon Age games (Origins thru DA2, minus a few dlc packs) and while there were definitely some problems with it, it's actually not that bad. My biggest complaint is the copy/pasted levels and maps.

          I'm even OK with the Qunari ret-con. Sten would have been better with horns instead of white corn rows.

          • reply
            June 21, 2013 6:03 AM

            I loved the race changes they made. I thought it was cool that ever race was more distinctive vs having pointy ears and being short/tall.

            DA2 messed up plenty but I found it fun to play.

          • reply
            June 21, 2013 6:04 AM

            The only thing I can assume is that they basically had a short development cycle. The game seemed like it was rushed or at least several months from where it should be.

            • reply
              June 21, 2013 7:12 AM

              That's exactly what happened. Keep in mind this was supposed to be DLC for DA1.

          • reply
            June 21, 2013 7:31 AM

            Biggest problem was that it was too easy. I got bored with the first one and never finished it. Walk into a room, earthqauke followed by fire. Rinse and repeat for hours.

    • reply
      June 20, 2013 10:11 PM

      In other words fuck your saved games.

    • reply
      June 21, 2013 3:14 AM

      omg BioWare... your really FREAKIN ME OUT MAN!!!

    • reply
      June 21, 2013 3:43 AM

      wahhh how will I ever calculate how many times better it is then

    • reply
      June 21, 2013 3:56 AM

      "...We just wanted to draw more attention to the fact that Inquisition is an all-new chapter inside of the Dragon Age universe, as opposed to people expecting a follow-on to Dragon Age 1 and 2 in a literal, linear sense."

      Umm but isn't this one in fact a direct sequel to Dragon Age 2? Much more than Dragon Age 2 was a sequel to Origins. It's just a marketing decision trying to get people to play it who would be turned off by 3 in the title because they "hadn't played the other two".

    • reply
      June 21, 2013 6:46 AM

      Publishers do this all the time. Thief 3 wasn't called Thief 3 for the same reasons. They didn't want to put off the people who hadn't played the first two.

      Not always the case, though. Crysis 2 came out on all platforms with the "2" when the original wasn't even on consoles yet. And what percentage of console Fallout 3 players do you think actually played the first two?

      It's a judgement call. Frankly I don't care what the game is called, I care whether it's good or not.

    • reply
      June 21, 2013 7:39 AM

      ennnnnchantmennnnt ????!!!??

    • reply
      June 21, 2013 2:10 PM

      Mass Effect 4 should totally do the same.

    • reply
      June 30, 2013 9:10 PM

      I thought it dropped the 3, because since it had to do with Morrigan, it was tied more to Dragon Age Origins, as opposed to being a 'new' game.

Hello, Meet Lola