Good news, PC gamers: Dragon Age: The Veilguard won’t have third-party DRM

By Carli Velocci Published October 15, 2024

A character draws a bow in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. — EA

Dragon Age: The Veilguard continues to look like a great PC release. Publisher Electronic Arts confirmed that the upcoming open-world RPG won’t feature Denuvo or any other third-party DRM when it launches on October 31.

EA announced this in a blog post, which also goes over the recommended PC specs and release times. While this means you won’t be able to preload the game (you can still do so on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5), you will get some benefits.

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DRM (digital rights management) is a way for PC game publishers to deal with potential piracy. When you launch a game, the software checks to see if you have a registered license and then launches the game. It sounds reasonable, and for the most part, it doesn’t interfere with your playtime.

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However, there have been instances in the past where DRM has caused some problems. In 2021, players couldn’t reach multiple offline single-player games due to an issue with Denuvo. The idea is that if a DRM service goes down or can’t connect to the internet, it’ll cause even games that work offline to be unplayable. This leads to concerns players have in the event of a delisting, although that’s not usually the case these days — at least with DRM.

A more common complaint from players is that DRM causes performance issues. Multiple tests have been done throughout the years that show it can lead to frame rate drops and longer loading times. For example, Digital Foundry discovered that a cracked, DRM-free PC version of Resident Evil Village ran better than an official one. Capcom eventually released a patch to address PC performance.

People with concerns about DRM have options. Games on Steam tend to have it, but you can get titles off of GOG and the Humble Store DRM-free. So Dragon Age: The Veilguard not shipping with DRM is a huge win for PC players — not all of them, but a decently-sized chunk of them.

EA and BioWare have made other pro-PC choices for the game’s release. It’s not only already Steam Deck verified but also won’t need to be connected to the EA app, which isn’t natively supported on the Steam Deck. Players also generally don’t like having to use extra accounts and software to get a game up and running through Steam.

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Contributor, Games

Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…

Gaming

All Trophies and Achievements in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

A dark and dreary landscape in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

The world of Thedas has a lot of problems by the time your Rook shows up on the scene in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. After creating your character, picking your class, and learning the basic tips and tricks of the game, you will be overwhelmed with content. There are dozens of quests to complete, chests to loot, puzzles to solve, and secrets to uncover. That's all without mentioning the main quest, which will take you dozens of hours on its own.

For completionists out there, you have your work cut out for you. A good way to help track your progress and make sure you're on the right path is to know all the Trophies and Achievements there are so you don't miss anything important. If you're curious about what tasks are required for full completion, here's the full Trophy and Achievement list for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

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Admit it: The Hinterlands are the best part of Dragon Age: Inquisition

A dragon in Dragon Age: Inquisition.

If you, like me, have been spending a decade waiting for the next entry in your favorite franchise, you'll be able to understand my excitement for the new Dragon Age game dropping next week. Ten long years after 2014's Dragon Age: Inquisition offered arguably the best pre-Elden Ring high-fantasy gaming experience in the business, the long-awaited sequel, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, will finally take fans deeper into the heart of Thedas than ever before. The wait has been long and often frustrating -- fans can't hear the names "Joplin" or "Morrison" without shedding a tear for what could've been. However, we soldiered through, mainly by sticking to the good and, if you're anything like me, replaying Inquisition over and over again.

Hardly anyone can deny Dragon Age: Inquisition is a great game; it even won Game of the Year at the 2014 Game Awards. Yet, every time someone talks about it, the conversation goes to how the game's earliest section, focused on the Hinterlands, is tiresome. I'll be the first to admit there are some valid points to these criticisms: the Hinterlands are expansive, to the point of potentially feeling overwhelming. Yet, I cannot bring myself to fault the game for it. In fact, I believe that the Hinterlands are the highlight of Dragon Age: Inquisition, and it wouldn't be an overstatement to say the game actually peaks early with them.
Hinterland who's who
Dragon Age: Inquisition is set in a medieval-inspired world called Thedas. It's ravaged by a civil war between two factions: the mages and the templars. A conclave organized to negotiate a peace treaty goes awry when an explosion kills the attendees and leaves a hole in the sky, referred to as The Breach, allowing for nightmares and demons to come out and attack. A hero with the ability to close The Breach emerges, leading to the reformation of the Inquisition, an organization separate from other kingdoms and empires focused solely on closing The Breach.

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard preload guide: release time, file size, and preorder

Varric and Harding in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

It's almost time to return to the world of Thedas, but there's still some time yet before we can get our hands on Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This game has been in the works for years, undergoing many changes, but is finally arriving on Halloween. We're all excited to create our own Rook and dive back into the story with new and familiar faces. If you've been waiting as long as we have, every second counts, and the last thing you want is to sit at your PC or console waiting for the game to download. We want to help you get right to the fantasy goodness by telling you all the preload details you need for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard release time

Dragon Age: The Veilguard will launch 9 a.m. PT/noon ET on October 31. You can reference the above map to see your specific time zone.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard file size
The only storefront listing a file size as of now is Steam, which suggests players have at least 100GB of storage space. We imagine consoles will need slightly less, but aim to have at least that much on all platforms just to be safe.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard preload options