14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts is looking to get its foot in the door of the multiplayer online battle arena scene, with its upcoming title Dawngate.
The way it's trying to achieve that goal is by making sure that its game will have something more to offer than what your average, run-of-the-mill MOBA does: a great backstory for its world, a rich lore for players to explore and enjoy.
Consequently, developer Waystone Games has announced that the man in charge of Dawngate's storyline is none other than Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 writer Chris L'Etoile, as Polygon reports.
The lore-driven game will also feature an online graphic novel that will be placed at the center of the game's evolving story, mirroring events triggered by the players during their time with the game.
The end result will be a "living lore" sort of thing, a crowd-sourced adventure that the players will be actively shaping as they play Dawngate, helping the developers make the decision of how the story unfolds.
Dawngate entered open beta testing in May this year, and, according to lead producer Dave Cerra, it has already drawn a crowd of hundreds of thousands of players.
The studio is getting ready for an eventual push into eSports territorry, with the help of the growing userbase of its MOBA.
On the features list to be added to Dawngate in the future are the spectator mode, a vital instrument for the cultivation of an eSports audience, as well as ranked ladder, which will further aid in the push for high-level competitive play.
Cerra has noted that, although the studio will follow its audience into the world of pro-gaming, it will not attempt to force Dawngate into that zone.
Dawngate features two five-player teams battling on a two-lane map, and it introduces several economy-based objectives into the usual MOBA cocktail, such as Spirit Wells, that will create a "new strategic landscape."
Players will be able to earn loot drops for their acts of bravery, from their foes but also from their allies, in the shape of Blessings, which are awarded for teamwork, kills and sportsmanship.
If you want to learn more about the upcoming game or join the beta and get some firsthand experience with it, you can sign up for a free account on the Dawngate website.
The game does not yet have an official release date announced, having just entered beta last month. The final version of Dawngate will be free to play, supported by microtransactions, just like Riot Game's League of Legends and Valve's Dota 2.