Yo team, you have to check this because a recent announcement and some pricing news just landed that I can't get excited enough about! PC Gamer has already named Dragon Age: The Veilguard as their 2025 Game of the Year — which is absolutely insane for a game that hasn't even been released yet. This isn't just any title; it's BioWare's first new IP since Dragon Age Origins in 2010, and after years of rebuilding following The Witcher controversy, this is their comeback card. To understand how huge this is you have to know the Frostbite history — when Skyrim adopted the engine everyone predicted failure because Epic had used it for Fortnight without problems earlier that year, but BioWare's previous Dragon Age games struggled on it too. Now they've fully embraced the engine after years of avoiding it and building The Veilguard on its latest version which actually looks stunning in trailer footage and shows real promise compared to past attempts at this genre-blend.
But here is what makes this one different from every other BioWare title — the combat system has been rebuilt for a four-person active party with elemental synergy mechanics that change how you build your squad, no more grid tactics like Inquisition's battlefield view which polarized everyone back then. You now have both melee fighters and spellcasters instead of just ranged/melee distinctions, giving players real tactical variety during combat rather than just positioning units on a map. The game also features extensive companion interactions built in from day one, not as add-on content later. It's the first bioWare project to fully lean into Frostbite after they famously tried and failed to build Skyrim on it years ago — which is ironic because Epic had already proven the engine could work for open worlds before BioWare officially gave up on it for a decade. Now that The Veilguard finally uses it, everyone's paying close attention and this GOTY nod ahead of launch shows how high expectations have climbed from their previous failure at Dragon Age: Inquisition.
For anyone planning to grab it — there is actually some real money here if you time it right because the game just dropped down to $24 on Steam as part of Summer Sale (down from a expected retail price around $69.99). But here's what they don't tell you: that's only the base game, and BioWare sells DLC separately so if you want the deluxe experience you should add the Champion Pack for another $19.99 which comes with three bonus outfits, exclusive weapons, in-game pet dragon, and transmog tokens — bringing your total to about $43.95 instead of paying full price at launch. There's also a special Mystic Edition that bundles all this together at roughly the same total cost so grab one if you want everything rather than buying them piecemeal later. And don't forget there are still pre-order bonuses available as well, including unique outfits and weapon skins for each of your chosen companions which change with the game as they grow. So yeah — it's $24 now on Steam for the base game but budget about forty-four dollars if you want all the extra content bundled in at once instead of buying separately later.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/pc-gamers-2025-goty-is-yours-for-a-ludicrous-$24-during-the-steam-summer-sale/
But here is what makes this one different from every other BioWare title — the combat system has been rebuilt for a four-person active party with elemental synergy mechanics that change how you build your squad, no more grid tactics like Inquisition's battlefield view which polarized everyone back then. You now have both melee fighters and spellcasters instead of just ranged/melee distinctions, giving players real tactical variety during combat rather than just positioning units on a map. The game also features extensive companion interactions built in from day one, not as add-on content later. It's the first bioWare project to fully lean into Frostbite after they famously tried and failed to build Skyrim on it years ago — which is ironic because Epic had already proven the engine could work for open worlds before BioWare officially gave up on it for a decade. Now that The Veilguard finally uses it, everyone's paying close attention and this GOTY nod ahead of launch shows how high expectations have climbed from their previous failure at Dragon Age: Inquisition.
For anyone planning to grab it — there is actually some real money here if you time it right because the game just dropped down to $24 on Steam as part of Summer Sale (down from a expected retail price around $69.99). But here's what they don't tell you: that's only the base game, and BioWare sells DLC separately so if you want the deluxe experience you should add the Champion Pack for another $19.99 which comes with three bonus outfits, exclusive weapons, in-game pet dragon, and transmog tokens — bringing your total to about $43.95 instead of paying full price at launch. There's also a special Mystic Edition that bundles all this together at roughly the same total cost so grab one if you want everything rather than buying them piecemeal later. And don't forget there are still pre-order bonuses available as well, including unique outfits and weapon skins for each of your chosen companions which change with the game as they grow. So yeah — it's $24 now on Steam for the base game but budget about forty-four dollars if you want all the extra content bundled in at once instead of buying separately later.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/pc-gamers-2025-goty-is-yours-for-a-ludicrous-$24-during-the-steam-summer-sale/