EA CEO Andrew Wilson has addressed the disappointing financial performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, attributing its lack of success to a failure to "resonate with a broad enough audience." This statement came after EA restructured Dragon Age developer BioWare to focus exclusively on Mass Effect 5, resulting in the reassignment of some team members to other EA projects.
The decision to shift focus was prompted by Dragon Age: The Veilguard's underwhelming performance. EA disclosed that the game had only "engaged" 1.5 million players in the recent financial quarter, a figure that fell nearly 50% short of the company's projections.
IGN has documented several development challenges faced by Dragon Age: The Veilguard, including layoffs and the exit of several key project leads at various stages. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier noted that BioWare staff considered it a "miracle" that the game was released in a complete state, given EA's initial push for a live-service model followed by a reversal of that decision.
During an investor-focused financial call, Wilson emphasized the need for EA's role-playing games to incorporate "shared-world features and deeper engagement" alongside high-quality narratives to attract a wider audience. He acknowledged that Dragon Age: The Veilguard, while well-reviewed and appreciated by those who played it, did not capture a broad enough market in the competitive gaming industry.
Wilson's comments suggest that integrating shared-world features and deeper engagement might have boosted Dragon Age: The Veilguard's sales. However, this perspective seems at odds with EA's earlier decision to pivot the game from a multiplayer live-service model to a single-player RPG, a shift that IGN reported on extensively.
Fans have expressed concerns that EA may be drawing the wrong conclusions from Dragon Age: The Veilguard's performance, especially given the recent success of single-player RPGs like Larian's Baldur's Gate 3. With Dragon Age seemingly on indefinite hiatus, attention now turns to the future of Mass Effect 5.
EA CFO Stuart Canfield discussed the company's decision to refocus BioWare on Mass Effect 5, which has involved reducing the studio's size from 200 to less than 100 employees. He highlighted the evolving landscape of the gaming industry, emphasizing the need to allocate resources toward high-potential opportunities.
It's important to note that single-player games constitute a small fraction of EA's overall revenue, with the majority (74% in the last year) coming from live service models. Titles like Ultimate Team, Apex Legends, The Sims, and the upcoming Skate and Battlefield games are central to this strategy.
