EA thinks Dragon Age flopped because it wasn’t a live service game Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed because it lacked ‘shared world features’ according to EA, as the publisher’s attitude to single-player games shifts again.
According to Bloomberg News, an early version of Dragon Age: The Veilguard featured live service components in a similar vein to BioWare’s Anthem, but when that game flopped, and the single-player Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sold well, EA stripped out the multiplayer elements and made the The Veilguard (then known as Dreadwolf) a single-player game.
EA chief financial officer Stuart Canfield appeared to reinforce this need for live service products moving forward, in his own comments on Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
Even with that assumption though, it’s a pretty poor explanation for Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s failure – a game which was poorly marketed, stuck with an uninspiring name, and served up as a sequel to a game from 10 years ago.
While phrases like ‘deeper engagement’ are about as meaningless as they come, the mention of ‘shared world features’ sounds like EA is alluding to the absence of live service elements.
