EA Comes to Odd Conclusion About Dragon Age: The Veilguard Sales Troubles

Dragon Age: The Veilguard publisher EA has implied that the game would have performed better as a live-service title. Released in October 2024, Dragon Age: The Veilguard was the long-awaited follow-up to the 2014 Game of the Year recipient Dragon Age: Inquisition.

While longtime fans of the franchise were eager to get their hands on a new Dragon Age title after a decade, Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to meet EA’s sales expectations by a whopping 50 percent, selling only 1.5 million copies. Reviews for the title were divisive, with some applauding The Veilguard‘s new characters, gameplay, and graphics and others criticizing its overall story and writing. The game was review-bombed at launch for its supposed “wokeness,” a sentiment still maintained by many in the community. Months after the title’s release, its publisher is offering some thoughts on why Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed to find a larger audience.

During a recent financial call (via PC Gamer), EA CEO Andrew Wilson offered some comments regarding The Veilguard‘s less-than-stellar sales, implying that a live-service approach may have led to more success for the recent BioWare RPG. “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,” Wilson said. “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.” In January, it was reported that EA shares had dropped 16 percent, which was largely attributed to the poor sales of both Dragon Age: The Veilguard and EA Sports FC 25.

EA Implies That Dragon Age: The Veilguard Should Have Gone the Live-Service Route

During its lengthy development period, The Veilguard was primed to feature live service and multiplayer elements. In February 2021, however, this changed, largely due to the success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and BioWare’s cancelation of the Anthem reboot. Dragon Age: The Veilguard dropped all live-service elements, pivoting to an entirely single-player experience and one more in line with past entries in the franchise. While Wilson does not directly state that the game failed due to its decision not to take the live-service route, it does sound like there is some regret being felt by the publisher for approving the switch to single-player.

EA recently announced that restructuring would be taking place at BioWare to aid with the development of the next Mass Effect title. In the midst of these changes, many Dragon Age: The Veilguard developers were let go from the company, including its lead writer, senior systems designer, and producer. The Veilguard‘s director, Corinne Busche, announced that she would also be leaving BioWare.

Despite the current shake-up at the company, BioWare executive producer Michael Gamble recently assured fans that Mass Effect 5 is still in pre-production, with development of the game progressing smoothly. A release title for the next game in the series has not been announced, but many fans are now concerned that it will contain live-service elements, something that most of the community seems to be against.