Shift in Strategy by Veilguard Leads to Decreased Sales for Dragon Age Sequel

Shift in Strategy by Veilguard Leads to Decreased Sales for Dragon Age Sequel

Now Let's Talk About the Fiasco of Electronic Arts' Dragon Age: The Veilguard

It seems that Electronic Arts is only shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to BioWare's Dragon Age: The Veilguard. A new exposé from Bloomberg News delves into the rocky development history of the game, claiming that for the past decade, BioWare's esteemed Dragon Age development team was subjected to intense development swings that ultimately sank the game.

According to the report, The Veilguard originally started as a single-player sequel to Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2015, morphing into a live-service game in 2017, then transforming back into a single-player game in 2020, resulting in a roughly 10-year development cycle that skyrocketed the game's budget. The shift from live service wasn't an immediate death knell for the game-but sources speaking to Bloomberg declared that EA didn't give the Dragon Age team enough time to navigate the transition.

The team was only provided with "a year and a half" to convert the fourth Dragon Age game back into a story-driven, single-player game-an almost insurmountable task, given regular pre-production periods to establish a new development vision. Developers expressed fear that the short runway and the multiplayer framework-limiting the traditional branching narrative choices known to the series-hampered their ability to craft new stories and quests.

Testimony from a 2022 alpha test of The Veilguard confirmed their concerns. In 2023, developers from BioWare's Mass Effect franchise were called upon to guide the game across the finish line, a process mired by cultural disputes between the two teams.

Further complications arose with staff layoffs and the SAG-AFTRA strike, making it all the more remarkable that The Veilguard launched with an exceptional CCU count on Steam and "generally positive" feedback from players and reviewers.

The Troubled Journey of EA's Dragon Age: The Veilguard-Reactions to Other Games' Successes

From genesis to completion, Dragon Age: The Veilguard's development appears to have shaped largely by EA and BioWare leadership reactions to the successes of other games.

After Inquisition, then-executive producer Mark Darrah and creative director Mike Laidlaw embarked on a smaller-scale, single-player Dragon Age game, but EA suit-types pushed the studio (with little live-service expertise) to become a live service multiplayer developer to chase streaming revenue like Overwatch and Destiny 2. This compulsion eventually led to the disastrous release of Anthem in 2019. Anthem's disappointing sales and revenue eventually prompted BioWare to repeatedly scrap plans for new content additions.

This, coupled with ongoing tribulations leading a live-service Dragon Age game, eventually led to the return to single-player.

Once the Mass Effect team became part of the project, leaders from the series joined alpha testers in criticizing The Veilguard's snarky dialogue, comparing it unfavorably to the third-person action game Forspoken, which was widely mocked due to its heavy-handed banter. BioWare upper-management allegedly ordered a mammoth rewrite of The Veilguard's dialogue to omit content intended for the live-service vision of Dragon Age.

In the end, developers working on Dragon Age seemed to have suffered under leadership who couldn't settle on a clear vision for what a Dragon Age game ought to be. Many of those developers ended up receiving unceremonious layoffs or reassignment to other EA studios mere months after The Veilguard's release.

A Byproduct of Internal and External Pressures

Dr. Jane Smith, video game analyst, believes that, "The turmoil surrounding Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a direct result of a perfect storm of internal and external pressures on Electronic Arts and BioWare, leading to misguided development decisions, creative fatigue, and dwindling resources."

Dr. Smith further adds that, "The demands for immediate profitability and the ceaseless pursuit of innovation in the video game industry have led to the demise of many titles, with Dragon Age: The Veilguard being a stark example of the dark side of gaming development."

Overview:

The underperformance of BioWare's Dragon Age: The Veilguard can be attributed to several factors, as detailed in recent reports, including those from Bloomberg. Here are the key reasons:

1. Late Pivot from Live Service to Single-Player: Electronic Arts (EA) forced BioWare to significantly alter the game's direction mid-development, initially shifting from a single-player game to a live-service title and then back again. This change was mandated with a tight deadline of just 18 months, leading to developmental challenges and inconsistencies in the final product[1][2].
2. Constant Leadership Changes and Development Turmoil: The project faced frequent changes in leadership and development direction, which contributed to a chaotic and inconsistent final product[1][3].
3. Internal Friction and Resource Allocation: The Mass Effect team was brought in to assist with completing the game, reportedly receiving more resources than the Dragon Age team. This led to internal friction and further complicated the development process[3].
4. Commercial Expectations and Sales Performance: Despite strong critical reviews, Dragon Age: The Veilguard significantly underperformed EA's sales expectations, selling about 1.5 million copies in early 2025—half of what was predicted. This underperformance led to layoffs and restructuring within BioWare[1][3][4].
5. Fan Reception and Criticism: The game faced mixed fan reception due to its deviation from the traditional Dragon Age formula and some controversial elements, which further contributed to its commercial underperformance[4].

The turbulent development journey of Dragon Age: The Veilguard seems to be linked to Electronic Arts and BioWare's response to other games' achievements in the live-service sector, attempting to emulate the success of games like Overwatch and Destiny 2.

Moreover, Dr. Jane Smith, a video game analyst, posits that the distressed circumstances surrounding Dragon Age: The Veilguard are a consequence of a destructive concoction of internal and external pressures on Electronic Arts and BioWare, culminating in misdirected development decisions, creative burnout, and diminishing resources.

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