EA CEO Andrew Wilson has commented on the financial failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, saying it failed to “resonate with a broad enough audience.”
Last week, EA restructured Dragon Age developer BioWare to focus on Mass Effect 5 only, meaning some who worked on The Veilguard were moved to projects at other EA studios, while other staff were laid off.
The decision followed EA’s announcement that Dragon Age: The Veilguard had underperformed on its expectations for the long-awaited action RPG. EA said Dragon Age “engaged” 1.5 million players during its recent financial quarter, which was down nearly 50% from the company’s projections.
IGN has chronicled some of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s development challenges, including layoffs and the departure of several project leads at different stages.
According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, BioWare staff believe it was a miracle Dragon Age: The Veilguard released a complete game “after EA forced live-service into it, then reversed course.”
Now, speaking in an investor-focused financial call, Wilson suggested its role-playing games need to have “shared-world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives.”
“In order to break out 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,” Wilson said in prepared remarks.
“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.”
Reading between the lines, Wilson is suggesting that if Dragon Age: The Veilguard had “shared-world features” and “deeper engagement,” it might have sold more copies. But it’s hard to understand that position when you consider EA backed BioWare’s major reset of Dragon Age. As IGN has reported, this reboot saw Dragon Age shift from the skeleton of a multiplayer game with repeatable quests, a tech base, and the outline of a story, to a full-blown single-player RPG.
Fans are already saying EA has learnt the wrong lessons from Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and are pointing to the enormous success of single-player only RPGs that have been released recently, including Larian’s all-conquering Baldur’s Gate 3. Either way, it seems Dragon Age is now dead, at least for the foreseeable future. But what does this all mean for Mass Effect 5?
EA CFO Stuart Canfield touched on EA’s decision to restructure BioWare to focus on the next Mass Effect, which has reportedly involved cutting the 200-person studio down to less than 100 people.
“Historically, blockbuster storytelling has been the primary way our industry bought beloved IP to players,” Canfield said. “The game’s financial performance highlights the evolving industry landscape and reinforces the importance of our actions to reallocate resources towards our most significant and highest potential opportunities.”
It’s worth noting that single-player only games make up a tiny portion of EA’s overall revenue. The bulk of the company’s cash comes from live service (74% in the last 12 months). Ultimate Team is doing the heavy lifting here, but there are live service contributions from everything from Apex Legends to The Sims. The upcoming Skate is a live service, and the next Battlefield will inevitably be treated as such, too.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
