Dragon Age: The Veilguard was unfortunately not the game that fans of the series were hoping it would be. It also wasn't the financial success that EA wanted it to be. While there were many issues with the game, like boring romances, drab writing, and pointless choices, EA CEO Andrew Wilson felt it would have been more successful as a live-service game.
It wasn't that it was single-player, I promise.
"In order to break beyond the core audience, games need to directly connect to the evolving demands of players who increasingly seek shared-world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives in this beloved category," said Wilson during a recent investor call. It seems even former Dragon Age developers disagree with him.
Former Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw wasn't subtle about his opposing point of view. "Look, I'm not a fancy CEO guy," said Laidlaw on Bluesky, "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."...
