
Late last month, we heard from publisher EA that Dragon Age: The Veilguard had "underperformed", selling about half of what was expected during its launch quarter. Of course, this being a mega-publisher with investors to please, EA has to put the blame on something - and it sounds like the game being a contained single-player RPG hasn't sat well with the company's boss.
Speaking as part of a new financial call this week, EA CEO Andrew Wilson had some, err, interesting comments to make about the latest Dragon Age title. Wilson said that "Q3 was not the financial performance we wanted or expected", and also "great titles—even when built and delivered with polished execution—can sometimes miss our financial expectations".
Have a read of this extended quote and see what you make of it:
"In order to break beyond the core audience, games need to directly connect to the evolving demands of players who increasingly seek shared-world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives in this beloved category. Dragon Age had a high quality launch and was well-reviewed by critics and those who played; however, it did not resonate with a broad-enough audience in this highly competitive market."
Although not directly referenced, that sounds very much like EA regrets sticking to a strictly single-player experience with The Veilguard, even though it reportedly pivoted in that direction mid-development. Of course, there was also EA's Anthem release back in 2019, which tried to tack-on live service to a BioWare RPG and failed miserably.
Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see what this means for the future of BioWare and its releases. Last week, we got the news that the studio had slimmed down to work on Mass Effect 5 while many of its developers depart for other EA studios, which hints that future BioWare titles might have to be smaller in scope - in order to stay financially viable as single-player RPGs.