Dragon Age Expansion Pack Announced, DLC Delayed News

EA has announced the first expansion pack for Dragon Age: Origins - entitled Awakenings - that will be appearing in shops worldwide on March 16th for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

The expansion pack will introduce players to a new area of the Dragon Age world known as Amaranthine, which will explore yet more secrets of the darkspawn (this time the focus will be on their "motivations" apparently).

New enemies will include an "evolved, intelligent breed of darkspawn", as well as the Spectral Dragon and Inferno Golem. Awakenings will also offer more customisation options, such as the ability to re-spec character attributes.

BioWare is increasing the level cap with Awakenings and providing more spells, specialisations, items, and abilities in the expansion. Five new party members have been added to the roster as well, and gamers can chose to start the campaign as a new character or pick up the action where Dragon Age: Origins left off.

"Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening shows BioWare's commitment to our fans by delivering new story-driven experiences which enrich the dark heroic fantasy universe our fans have come to know and love," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group, EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. "The vibrant worldwide community of Dragon Age fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon."

In other Dragon Age news, BioWare has announced a delay to the Return to Ostagar DLC that was scheduled to arrive today. "We're sorry but the planned Return to Ostagar downloadable content scheduled to launch on January 5th has been delayed for all platforms," BioWare's Chris Priestly announced via the developer's forums. "We will update you as new information becomes available," he continued.