Dragon Age, a series not exactly known for being shy when it comes to chucking in a spider or two, is taking a novel approach to the increasingly common practice of implementing an arachnophobia mode for its upcoming fourth instalment: it’s getting rid of all its spiders.
That’s according to BioWare community manager blackhairvioleteyes (thanks TheGamer), who shared the news on the Dragon Age subreddit after fans began querying the lack of an arachnophobia mode following Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s accessibility features reveal earlier this week. “No mention of arachnophobia filter,” noted redditor ZZssk, to which BioWare’s blackhairvioleteyes replied, “No arachnophobia mode because there’s no spiders!”
The immediate reaction to the news was mixed, albeit good-naturedly. Flyingfalcon01 was, for instance, overjoyed, writing, “Oh thank goodness!! My arachnophobic heart is pleased!”, while others lamented the fact this almost certainly means the terrifying spiders-with-human-hands seen in BioWare’s early work-in-progress renders got the chop.
Dragon Age isn’t the first game to take an unusual approach to the arachnophobia problem, of course. Developer Coffee Stain opted to replace spiders with adorable pictures of cats in its automation sim Satisfactory, while Obsidian’s Grounded – a game positively bursting with the things – let players dial the spider details all the way back to ‘innocuous circle’. Then there was last year’s Lethal Company, which imaginatively replaced all its spiders with the word “spider”, scuttling around the place. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is, however, probably the first game to take the scorched earth approach to solving the arachnid problem (unlike, say, Shadow of the Erdtree, which stuck a scorpion on a spider and made everything a million times worse).
So arachnophobes rest easy; you’ll be able to adventure in spider-free bliss when Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC release on 31st October. And even better news: BioWare’s series revival is looking pretty good.