The marketing for Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been a bit rough in the months leading up to its release. With the majority of their marketing sinking alongside Game Informer it’s no doubt been a scramble for Bioware as they work double time to get the news of the latest Dragon Age out there in anticipation of The Veilguard’s October 31st release. In an effort to get on the map Dragon Age developers John Epler and Corinne Busche joined voice actors Ali Hillis and Ashley Barlow to do a fun interview in the “smash or pass” format with some of Dragon Age’s alumni, but sadly the lasting impact of this interview is this little snippet that trended on Twitter for a while.
This lead into a trend where Twitter users reacted to this clip decrying the team, asking how could they forget Zevran of all people. A fair question, considering much of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is set in Antiva and Zevran, prior to this game, is the main source of all the exposition surrounding Antiva. Zevran himself is also a fan favorite among some of the community so this clip stung for them. It should be noted, however, that the two in the clip who actually declared they didn’t remember Zevran were the interviewer and Ashley Barlow, who is a voice actor. Both John Epler and Corinne Busche remembered Zevran, and as part of the development of the game it’s a good sign they recognized him.
But clips rarely show the whole picture, sadly, and with Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s aforementioned marketing troubles, as well as a rather lukewarm reception to the game as a whole from a fanbase that has been divided since the release of Dragon Age 2, these clips probably don’t inspire much confidence. Still, the marketing push must move forward and any press is good press at this point, even if it’s taken out of context.