BioWare had Dragon Age: The Veilguard's look nailed, 10 years ago

BioWare had the look of its excellent RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard nailed a decade ago, when early work first began right after Dragon Age Inquisition’s launch.

Artwork shared by BioWare veteran Matt Rhodes reveals a very familiar-looking Minrathous, capital of Tevinter and the location for The Veilguard’s opening mission, created 10 years before The Veilguard finally arrived.

It’s fascinating to see this, as well as other early production art from Rhodes, and consider how much of what became The Veilguard was nailed down already – even before the launch of Inquisition’s final expansion, Trespasser. Simultaneously, it’s also a little unbelievable that fans still had so long to wait to finally play it!

“The first real piece of concept art I made for this project,” Rhodes wrote, sharing artwork of Minrathous on social media. “We knew we were going to Tevinter, so this was the first attempt to flesh that out.”

Veilguard
The first real piece of concept art I made for this project. We knew we were going to Tevinter, so this was the first attempt to flesh that out. A powerful magister being carried on a palanquin by her elven slaves, and scrappy adventurer’s trying to evade mage patrols… pic.twitter.com/j8q7B6Ys1p

— Matt Rhodes (@mattrhodesart) November 15, 2024

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As described by Rhodes, the image shows: “a powerful magister being carried on a palanquin by her elven slaves, and scrappy adventurers trying to evade mage patrols and survive in an urban labyrinth”.

Rhodes has been at BioWare for 20 years and served as art director on the Dragon Age franchise for the past six.

Earlier this month, Rhodes showcased other Veilguard artwork created in 2014. There’s some fascinating similarities to the final game here, including several images of Solas – and even one where he appears to be undertaking his ritual from Veilguard’s opening.