EA CEO Says Dragon Age: The Veilguard Failed to 'Resonate With a Broad Audience,' Gamers Increasingly Want 'Shared-World Features'

EA's Andrew Wilson attributes the financial underperformance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard to its failure to connect with a wider audience. Last week's restructuring of BioWare, focusing solely on Mass Effect 5, saw personnel shifts following the game's disappointing sales figures. EA reported only 1.5 million players engaged with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, significantly below projections.

IGN previously documented The Veilguard's development challenges, including layoffs and the departure of key personnel. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reported that BioWare staff considered the game's completion a miracle given EA's initial push for live-service elements, later reversed.

Wilson, in an investor call, suggested that future RPGs require "shared-world features and deeper engagement" alongside strong narratives to expand beyond the core fanbase. He praised the game's quality but acknowledged its limited appeal in a competitive market. This statement is perplexing given EA's prior decision to significantly restructure the Dragon Age development, shifting away from a planned multiplayer model to a single-player focus.

This interpretation, suggesting that added multiplayer features would have boosted sales, contrasts sharply with EA's own redirection of the Dragon Age project. The success of recent single-player RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 further fuels fan criticism of EA's perceived misinterpretation of The Veilguard's shortcomings. The future of Dragon Age remains uncertain.

EA CFO Stuart Canfield linked BioWare's restructuring, reducing its size considerably, to the evolving industry landscape and the need to prioritize high-potential projects. He highlighted the shift away from solely blockbuster storytelling, emphasizing the importance of live-service models. This underscores EA's reliance on live-service games (74% of revenue in the past year), with titles like Ultimate Team, Apex Legends, and The Sims contributing significantly. Future projects like Skate and the next Battlefield will also likely adopt this model.