Previously, BioWare general manager Gary McKay told IGN in an interview that Dragon Age: The Veilguard will allow you to “romance the companions you want,” sparking speculation that the fourth game in the series would be making a change to the way romances were handled in previous entries.
Now, in a new interview with The Veilguard game director Corinne Busche, we’ve confirmed that yes, you will be able to romance any companion you want, regardless of your character’s gender or race. It’s a bit of a surprise for fans, considering that in previous Dragon Age games, the romanceable characters had different sexual orientations. Some were pansexual, sure, but others were heterosexual, others were only attracted to the same sex, and some could only be romanced if you were a certain race (Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Solas, for example, could only be romanced by female elves).
But Busche pushes back on the idea that The Veilguard’s companions are “playersexual,” a term used to describe games where NPCs are specifically only attracted to the player character. She says she’s seen playersexual “done in a number of games,” and “it can be really off-putting where these characters are adapting to who you, the player, are.”
Rather, Busche insists that they’re all specifically pansexual, and that might come through in what you learn about their backstories.
“Their past experiences or partners, they’ll reference them and indeed who they’ll become romantic with,” Busche tells IGN. “For instance, we saw Harding. I might be playing a straight male character flirting with her, but I choose not to pursue a romance. She might get together with Taash. So my perception, my identity has no bearing on their identities and that comes through really strongly.”
When asked if that means it won’t take long for romance to become an option in The Veilguard, Busche confirms that you’ll be able to start flirting with everyone pretty early, as you recruit all seven companions throughout the first act. But, she clarifies, “it’s not until the later parts of the game where you really commit to romance and it gets pretty spicy.”
Speaking of spicy…
Of course, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a BioWare game, and games from the studio — specifically those in the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series — are known to have some fairly explicit sex scenes. Busche confirms that The Veilguard will be no different, particularly towards the end of the game: “Of course, we are an M-rated game,” she says. “We do have nudity.”
There’s also some obvious parallels to be made between The Veilguard and last year’s critical darling Baldur’s Gate 3. The latter became known not only for its deep romances (like The Veilguard, Baldur’s Gate 3 player characters can romance any companion regardless of gender or race), but also for its sex scenes, including one involving a Wild-Shaping Druid that went pretty viral.
Busche isn’t afraid to admit that she has played Baldur’s Gate 3, and loved it, as she’s an “an RPG fan through and through”: “The more character-driven party-based RPGs with deep emotional connection, the better.”
“What I love about the two games is I think they live side by side in a really interesting way,” she continues. “They’re very different games, but those emotional connections and how the narratives hook you, I think there’s space for both.”
Specifically in regards to the sex scenes and how The Veilguard will handle theirs differently, Busche says some of Baldur’s Gate 3’s scenes were “shocking and comical in some ways, and I would say I loved that.”
“Our companions, we want them to be relatable and fully realized. So they can get spicy, but in a way that I think people will actually relate to,” she says.
Basically: no bear sex. Busche goes on to say that how sexually explicit the scenes are, too, will vary between characters.
“Some of them are more spicy than others,” she reveals. “Just like real life, our companions have such diverse personalities. Some of them are more physical, more aggressive, and some of them are more… we have a gentleman necromancer, for instance, that is more intimate and sensual.”
Our interview with Busche comes as BioWare continues to roll out information about the highly anticipated Dragon Age sequel, with a cinematic trailer having dropped at the Xbox Showcase over the weekend. Dragon Age: The Veilguard will debut sometime this fall.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.