‘Dragon Age: Inquisition’: The Black Emporium Was Never Intended To Be Part of Patch 5, Claims BioWare

In the second entry of the Dragon Age franchise, those who owned the signature edition of the game were given access to a locked in-game area known as the Black Emporium. This provided users with access to special shops that sold exclusive gear as well as contain a mirror that allowed players to be able to alter their character’s appearance at any point throughout the game.

After initially being absent from the most recent installment of the fantasy franchise, BioWare later confirmed that they were adding the Black Emporium to Dragon Age: Inquisition, based upon commonly suggested fan feedback. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the new feature was originally announced alongside a new PC beta program to test Patch 5 for Dragon Age: Inquisition.

However, despite the fact that the Black Emporium was introduced within a beta test specifically intended for Patch 5, Bioware has confirmed that the Emporium was never meant to actually be part of the update now that the newest Dragon Age: Inquisition patch has been deployed across all platforms.

After fans noticed that Black Emporium wasn’t part of the update, Dragon Age: Inquisition creative director Mike Laidlaw explained that the feature was never intended to actually release as part of the patch, but was simply tested alongside the update because it required features that were added to Dragon Age: Inquisition‘s Patch 5 in order to function.

“Black Emporium is separate from Patch 5. We beta tested them together, however as BE depends on added Patch 5 functionality.”

Unfortunately, many fans were already under the assumption that the Black Emporium was going to be added to Dragon Age: Inquisition as part of Patch 5. In a thread on the BioWare forums, the community is currently split in an argument about whether they thought BioWare had already announced that the Emporium would be included in the recently released update. After all, the Black Emporium was originally announced to be coming to Dragon Age: Inquisition in a post on the developer’s official blog, as it detailed a beta program for Patch 5, which was titled “Introducing the DAI Patch 5 Beta Program, Featuring the Black Emporium.”

Fans of Dragon Age: Inquisition can’t seem to agree on whether some are misinterpreting what BioWare said or if the statement was misleading. Whatever the case, the situation was worsened after the confusion also spread to several news outlets. Many major gaming publications reported that the Black Emporium would be part of Patch 5 at the time of its announcement. This, at least, provides indication that even some journalists believed the initial announcement as confirmation that the Emporium was going to be included in the newly release patch for Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Regardless of who is at fault for the apparent miscommunication, Dragon Age: Inquisition fans should now know that the Black Emporium is currently still in development, but BioWare has not yet revealed when or how the content will eventually be released. The developer has also extended the beta program in order to test the next update for Dragon Age: Inquisition. Additionally, the developer admitted last month that early work has begun on the title’s first DLC pack.

Are you still waiting on the Black Emporium to become available in Dragon Age: Inquisition, or are you more excited about other upcoming features?

[Images via Dragon Age]