BioWare confirms Dragon Age II

BioWare today confirmed that Dragon Age II, a sequel to last year's hit action role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins, is in the works for a March 2011 release. That actually represents a slight delay for the game, as an insert into the packaging for Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening strongly hinted the sequel would arrive in North America next February.

Dragon Age 2 is set over a 10-year period, according to BioWare. It will see the player transform Blight-survivor Hawke from "a destitute refugee to the revered champion of the land," with new combat mechanics for the game's three classes, as well as "an entirely new cinematic experience." As had previously been confirmed for the 2011 untitled project, Dragon Age 2 will be coming out for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

Dragon Age: Origins shipped in November 2009 to critical acclaim and was followed in March of this year by the Awakening expansion pack. It also received a number of smaller paid-for downloadable content expansions.

BioWare has several major projects in the works in addition to Dragon Age II. The highly anticipated Star Wars: The Old Republic massively multiplayer online game is slated for release next year, and the firm still has to wrap up its sci-fi space opera trilogy with Mass Effect 3.

Dragon Age II has not yet been rated by the ESRB or PEGI.