Not too long ago word of a new retail expansion to enhance BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins hit the net and today the veteran RPG developer confirmed its existence and informed the masses that it will be available for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and PC worldwide on March 16, 2010.

Here’s the description:

Designed and written by the same team that brought you Dragon Age: Origins, the Awakening expansion pack offers a brand new area of the world to explore known as Amaranthine, featuring an epic story that will allow players to unravel the secrets of the darkspawn – and their true motivations! Players will face a range of horrific and terrifying creatures including an evolved, intelligent breed of darkspawn and other menacing creatures such as the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening provides exciting new ways for players to customize their heroes and party, including the ability to re-spec their character attributes, allowing even greater customization and replayability. Featuring an increased level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations and items, plus five all-new party members, players can continue their adventures from Dragon Age, or begin with a brand new party.

“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.”

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, BioWare’s next thread in the Dragon Age: Origins tapestry, occurs following the events of Dragon Age: Origins and puts players into the role of a Grey Warden Commander entrusted with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens. In addition to rebuilding the ranks of the Grey Wardens, you will be tasked with uncovering the mystery of how the darkspawn survive after the slaying of the Archdemon dragon. How players choose to rebuild their order, resolve the conflict with the mysterious “Architect,” and determine the fate of the darkspawn are just some of the many intriguing moral choices that will shape each player’s heroic journey. Players will be able to import their character from Dragon Age: Origins or start out as a new Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais.

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be released March 16, 2010 worldwide on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 console and PC. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be available for $39.99 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in North America and will require Dragon Age: Origins to play. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is rated M by the ESRB and 18+ by PEGI.

On a related note, those of you looking to dive into this week’s release of the Return to Ostagar DLC will have to hold off just a little bit. As Joystiq points out, the second piece of downloadable content for the game is on hold until further notice. We’ll keep you posted as more details emerge.

For more information on the newly announced Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, please visit www.dragonage.com/awakening.