Within the last several weeks we have heard that Dragon Age: The Veilguard under performed on its sale targets by nearly 50% from EA's expectations. We have now heard what EA believe may be the cause of its financial under performance.
At EA's latest quarterly results, company bosses suggested that the offline single player nature of the game was to blame. EA boss Andrew Wilson said “In order to break out beyond the core audience, games need to directly connect to the evolving demand of players who increasingly seek shared world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives in this beloved category”.
In a long development cycle, Dragon Age: The Veilguard moved between being a live-service and single-player game, eventually landing on the latter, in what EA CFO Stuart Canfield suggests was a mistake: “Dragon Age: The Veilguard underperformed icing the competitive dynamics of the single-player RPG market".
EA studio BioWare who develop the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series have faced challenges to redevelop their image following the poorly received Mass Effect Andromeda - an entry that has put the once stellar series on a lengthy hiatus - and 2019's live service shooter flop, Anthem. What the financial under performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard means for BioWare's future titles remain unknown. A new Mass Effect title is in production, and whilst likely still years away, we may see live-service elements creep in. To those who spent time with Mass Effect 3's well respected multiplayer, this may be a positive.
Whilst seemingly a financial failure for EA, the title was well received critically with the title holding an impressive 82 score on Metacritic. In our 9/10 review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, we said the title "marks a triumphant return to Thedas for BioWare", with reviewer Jamie Hayami eager for a second run after a 100 hour play through.
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