EA CEO Andrew Wilson has addressed the disappointing financial performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, stating that the game failed to "resonate with a broad enough audience." This statement comes on the heels of EA's decision to restructure Dragon Age developer BioWare to exclusively focus on the development of Mass Effect 5. As a result, some team members who worked on The Veilguard have been reassigned to other projects within EA's network of studios.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the highly anticipated action RPG, did not meet EA's financial expectations. The company reported that the game "engaged" 1.5 million players during its recent financial quarter, a figure that fell short of their projections by nearly 50%. The development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard was fraught with challenges, as documented by IGN, including layoffs, the departure of several project leads, and significant shifts in the game's direction. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier noted that BioWare staff considered it a "miracle" that the game was released in a complete state, especially after EA's initial push for a live-service model, which was later reversed.
In a financial call aimed at investors, Wilson emphasized the necessity for role-playing games to incorporate "shared-world features and deeper engagement" alongside high-quality narratives to appeal to a wider audience. He acknowledged that while Dragon Age: The Veilguard received positive reviews from critics and players, it did not capture a large enough market share in the competitive gaming industry.
Wilson's comments suggest that the inclusion of shared-world features and deeper engagement could have potentially increased the game's sales. However, this stance seems at odds with EA's earlier decision to support BioWare's pivot from a multiplayer framework to a single-player RPG experience.
Fans have criticized EA for drawing the wrong conclusions from Dragon Age: The Veilguard's performance, especially in light of the success of other recent single-player RPGs like Larian's Baldur's Gate 3. The future of the Dragon Age series appears uncertain, with attention now shifting to Mass Effect 5.
EA CFO Stuart Canfield discussed the company's strategic move to refocus BioWare on Mass Effect 5, which involved reducing the studio's size from 200 to less than 100 employees. Canfield highlighted the evolving nature of the gaming industry and the importance of reallocating resources to maximize potential opportunities.
It's important to note that single-player games constitute only a small fraction of EA's revenue, with live service games accounting for 74% of the company's earnings over the past year. Titles like Ultimate Team, Apex Legends, The Sims, and the upcoming Skate and Battlefield games are central to EA's live service strategy.
