Former Dragon Age developers are not happy with EA CEO's suggestion that The Veilguard should have live service features: 'I'd probably quit'

Dragon Age character Varric looking confidently forward — (Image credit: BioWare)

EA's CEO, Andrew Wilson, recently voiced some bizarre criticism of Dragon Age: The Veilguard during a quarterly financial call. He suggested that the game struggled because it didn't have any live service components.

EA did announce that The Veilguard underperformed, even if expectations were perhaps set a little too high, but blaming this on the game not being a Fortnite ripoff misses the point entirely. I'm not sure any amount of live service elements could've saved this game from the poor writing, pacing, and lackluster companions. It seems that a few former Dragon Age developers agree with this sentiment that live service is not the right move.

I do want to point out that I don't think it's fair to say that the plan was to make The Veilguard into a purely multiplayer game; instead, it would be a singleplayer game with live service features. And telling everyone that you'd probably "quit that job or something" a week after BioWare veterans confirm that EA has laid them off is also a bit tone-deaf. But the point about changing a game's DNA just to pander to what some suits think is the biggest possible consumer market available is not the right mentality to make a great game that is actually enjoyable.

David Gaider, another BioWare veteran, also offered up his opinions as to what EA should focus on next, and it's not live service. "My advice to EA (not that they care): you have an IP that a lot of people love," Gaider says. "Deeply. 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. Follow Larian's lead and double down on that. The audience is still there. And waiting."

"Let’s be clear: you don’t have those numbers," Gaider says. "Nobody outside of EA does, and we only know what they tell us—though the fact they’ve said little, in fact, says a lot. For a return of the series after 10 years, they wanted numbers they could ballyhoo. Whatever they are, they didn’t get them. Does that make Veilguard a failure? Depends on your metric." All in all, the future of Dragon Age doesn't look too bright right now, and despite calls that the idea of Dragon Age can live on through its fans' creative ventures, players shouldn't have to rely on fanmade creations to enjoy a much-loved and established series like Dragon Age.

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Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.