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

EA CEO Andrew Wilson attributes the financial underperformance of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf to its failure to connect with a sufficiently broad audience. Following the game's disappointing sales, which fell nearly 50% short of EA's projections, BioWare underwent a restructuring, shifting its focus exclusively to Mass Effect 5. This resulted in personnel transfers from the Dreadwolf team to other EA studios.

The game's development was reportedly fraught with challenges, including layoffs and the departure of key personnel, as documented by IGN. Internal BioWare sources, as reported by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, even described the game's completion as miraculous given EA's initial push for live-service elements, later reversed.

Wilson, in a recent investor call, suggested that future role-playing games require "shared-world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives" to expand beyond their core audience. He acknowledged Dreadwolf's positive critical reception and strong initial player engagement (1.5 million players), but emphasized its insufficient market penetration.

This statement is perplexing considering EA's prior decision to significantly restructure the Dragon Age development, effectively pivoting from a planned multiplayer game to a single-player experience. The success of recent single-player RPGs like Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3 suggests EA may have drawn the wrong conclusions from Dreadwolf's performance. The future of the Dragon Age franchise remains uncertain.

EA CFO Stuart Canfield further elaborated on the BioWare restructuring, noting the reduction in studio size from approximately 200 to under 100 employees to focus on Mass Effect 5. He highlighted the shift in the industry landscape and the importance of resource allocation toward high-potential projects. This context underscores EA's heavy 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 titles like Skate and the next Battlefield are also expected to incorporate live-service elements.