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Former Dragon Age Writer Comments on Veilguard Live-Service Suggestion

 February 6, 2025 0 Likes 1 Views
Former Dragon Age Writer Comments on Veilguard Live-Service Suggestion

Summary

  • Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s creative director has spoken out against EA’s statements implying that the game would have been more successful with live-service elements.
  • The game didn’t meet EA’s sales expectations, only selling 1.5 million copies.
  • Players are now worried that Mass Effect 5 will be a live-service title.

The former creative director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard has responded to recent statements made by EA’s boss implying that the game would have been more successful as a live-service title. While initially slated to include live service and multiplayer elements, Dragon Age: The Veilguard pivoted to a single-player experience during its lengthy development period.

Fans of the franchise were thrilled when Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched in October 2024, but the game failed to reach EA’s sales expectations, shipping only 1.5 million copies. While early player reviews were largely positive, things took a turn for the worse not long after the RPG’s launch, with The Veilguard review-bombed for its reportedly “woke” agenda and lackluster writing. 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition won numerous Game of the Year awards, leading many to promptly criticize BioWare and EA for the newest game’s numerous shortcomings when players expected so much more. Now, a former director on the project is responding to some seemingly tone-deaf comments recently made by publisher EA.

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Recently, EA boss Andrew Wilson implied that Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a live-service title would have performed better. This garnered immediate pushback online, and former Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw, who worked on the series since its start, has now responded in a new post on Bluesky (as reported by Eurogamer). “Look, I’m not a fancy CEO guy, but if someone said to me ‘the key to this successful single-player IP’s success is to make it purely a multiplayer game. No, not a spin-off: fundamentally change the DNA of what people loved about the core game’ to me, I’d probably, like, quit that job or something,” he wrote. Notably, Laidlaw remained at BioWare until the decision to make The Veilguard a live-service title was announced, after which time he decided to leave the company.

David Gaider, the lead writer for the first three Dragon Age titles, also offered his thoughts regarding the recent comments on social media. “Let’s say you don’t actually know much about games. You’re in a big office with a bunch of other execs who also don’t know much about games. What are they all saying? ‘Live games do big numbers!’ ‘Action games are hot!’ My advice to EA (not that they care): you have an IP that a lot of people love. Deeply,” he wrote. “At its height, it sold well enough to make you happy, right? Look at what it did best at the point where it sold the most.” Gaider then mentioned the wild success of Baldur’s Gate 3 as a single-player title before reminding EA that the fans would still be waiting down the line. The former lead writer left BioWare in 2016.

Look, I’m not a fancy CEO guy​​​​​​​, but if someone said to me ‘the key to this successful single-player IP’s success is to make it purely a multiplayer game. No, not a spin-off: fundamentally change the DNA of what people loved about the core game’ to me, I’d probably, like, quit that job or something.

In late January 2025, it was announced that some developers of Dragon Age: The Veilguard had been laid off following the game’s lackluster performance. The game’s director, Corinne Busche, has also left the company, leading many to wonder what the future of the franchise will look like. Of greater concern to many in the community is now Mass Effect 5, which is currently in pre-production and was not impacted by the recent restructuring at the company. Given EA’s misguided belief that The Veilguard would have thrived as a live-service game, Mass Effect 5 may now feature these controversial elements, despite past entries being almost exclusively single-player experiences.

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