EA CEO: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Fails to Engage Broad Audience, Gamers Crave Shared-World Features

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has openly discussed the financial underperformance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, noting that the game failed to "resonate with a broad enough audience." This statement came after EA restructured Dragon Age developer BioWare to focus solely on Mass Effect 5, leading to some team members being reassigned to other projects within EA studios.

The restructuring followed EA's announcement that Dragon Age: The Veilguard had significantly underperformed, engaging only 1.5 million players during its recent financial quarter—a figure that fell nearly 50% short of the company's expectations for the highly anticipated action RPG. IGN has detailed some of the development challenges faced by Dragon Age: The Veilguard, including layoffs and the departure of several project leads at various stages.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier reported that BioWare staff considered it a "miracle" that Dragon Age: The Veilguard was released as a complete game, especially after EA initially pushed for a live-service model before reversing course. During a recent investor-focused financial call, Wilson emphasized the need for role-playing games to incorporate "shared-world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives" to appeal to a wider audience.

Wilson's comments suggest that Dragon Age: The Veilguard might have achieved better sales with shared-world features and deeper engagement. However, this stance seems at odds with EA's decision to support BioWare's major reset of Dragon Age, shifting it from a multiplayer game framework to a full-fledged single-player RPG. Fans have criticized EA for drawing the wrong conclusions from Dragon Age: The Veilguard's performance, especially when considering the success of recent single-player RPGs like Larian's Baldur's Gate 3.

With Dragon Age seemingly on hold for the foreseeable future, attention turns to Mass Effect 5. EA CFO Stuart Canfield addressed the company's decision to refocus BioWare, which involved reducing the studio's size from 200 to less than 100 people. Canfield highlighted the evolving industry landscape and the importance of reallocating resources to maximize potential opportunities.

It's important to note that single-player games represent a small fraction of EA's revenue, with live service games accounting for 74% of the company's earnings over the last year. Titles like Ultimate Team, Apex Legends, and The Sims contribute significantly to this figure, and upcoming releases such as Skate and the next Battlefield are also expected to follow the live service model.