Summary
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard's troubled development caused internal friction at BioWare.
- The Mass Effect team, brought in to help complete the game in 2023, was reportedly granted greater access to resources than the Dragon Age team, which was constantly battling with short deadlines that would end up getting pushed back, but not before influencing creative decisions.
- The Veilguard underperformed EA's early sales expectations by about 50%, reaching only 1.5 million players by early 2025.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard reportedly caused infighting at BioWare, according to a new exposé detailing the game's troubled development. Apart from generating friction between BioWare's internal teams, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is said to have contributed to several executive departures from the studio.
The latest entry in the Dragon Age franchise launched for the Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC at the tail end of October 2024. Three months later, BioWare parent company Electronic Arts reported that the game fell short of sales expectations, reaching approximately 1.5 million players by early 2025—half of the publisher’s initial projection. As a result, and with EA Sports FC 25 also underperforming, the company missed analyst expectations for its fiscal year 2025 by around $200 million, posting $2.22 billion in revenue. With EA also reducing its forecast for the following fiscal year, its shares dropped 18% on the back of the confirmation that the newest Dragon Age game had underperformed.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Director Has Left BioWare
Corinne Busche, the director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, reportedly leaves BioWare, leaving fans concerned about the series' future.
Long before EA labeled Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a flop, the project was already facing significant challenges. Additional details on these troubles have now emerged via a new report by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, whose sources allege the game's development caused substantial internal friction at BioWare.
Mass Effect Team Reportedly Revamped Dragon Age: The Veilguard
One of the issues materialized in 2023, when the BioWare leadership added its Mass Effect team to the project in an attempt to push it over the finish line. Upon joining, the new directors criticized the existing work, which had already endured two reboots—first to reimagine it as a live-service title, and later to salvage a single-player RPG from its remains. At this point, they started excluding the leadership of the Dragon Age team from key meetings and taking matters completely into their own hands, Schreier's sources claim.
Dragon Age Team Was Reportedly Frustrated With Mass Effect Team's Leeway
The Mass Effect team revamped several aspects of the game and is, e.g., largely responsible for Dragon Age: The Veilguard's dramatic finale, which was praised by fans and critics alike. While the outcome was well-received, its context reportedly caused internal tension. The resources allocated to the Mass Effect team were said to be unavailable to the original Dragon Age developers. This wasn’t the first instance of such disparity. "It always seemed that, when the Mass Effect team made its demands in meetings with EA regarding the resources it needed, it got its way," former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider—who was not involved in The Veilguard—told Schreier Meanwhile, the Dragon Age time "always had to fight" for any ask, as per the same source.
It always seemed that, when the Mass Effect team made its demands in meetings with EA regarding the resources it needed, it got its way.
When EA mandated The Veilguard be reworked into a live-service game in 2017, creative director Mike Laidlaw resigned in protest. Corinne Busche, the director who ultimately oversaw the twice-rebooted project through to completion, also left the company in January 2025.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 71%
- Released
- October 31, 2024
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- BioWare
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Frostbite
- Genre(s)
- RPG
