EA thinks Dragon Age flopped because it wasnt a live service gameAdam StarkeyPublished February 5, 2025 1:31pmUpdated February 5, 2025 1:31pm Maybe Dreadwolf would have been better (EA)Dragon Age: The Veilguard failed because it lacked shared world features according to EA, as the publishers attitude to single-player games shifts again.Despite strong reviews, Dragon Age: The Veilguard significantly underperformed for EA, leading to a lowered revenue forecast for the rest of the financial year.This was first acknowledged by the publisher last month, but the issue has been raised again during EAs Q3 2025 earnings call where company CEO Andrew Wilson gave a frustratingly vague explanation as to why the BioWare role-playing sequel failed to find an audience.In the earnings call, Wilson began by stating EAs overall results (which also saw EA Sports FC underperform) during the quarter was not the financial performance we wanted or expected, adding that games built and delivered with polished execution can sometimes miss our financial expectations.He then went on to refer to Dragon Age: The Veilguard specifically. In order to break out beyond the core audience, games need to directly connect to the evolving demand of players who increasingly seek shared world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives in this beloved category, Wilson added.Dragon Age had a high-quality launch and was well-reviewed by critics and those who played. However, it did not resonate with a broad enough audience in this highly competitive market.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.According to Bloomberg News, an early version of Dragon Age: The Veilguard featured live service components in a similar vein to BioWares 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.Given that context, it sounds like Wilson is regretting the decision to not make it a live service game. Even with that assumption though, its a pretty poor explanation for Dragon Age: The Veilguards 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.EAs live service excuse makes more sense when you look at the numbers. As noted in the earnings call, live services make up 74% of EAs business, with the company earning $1.58 billion in net bookings in that area alone, compared to $633 million in full game sales.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. The future of Dragon Age doesnt look bright (EA)Historically, blockbuster storytelling has been the primary way our industry bought beloved IP to players, Canfield said. The games financial performance highlights the evolving industry landscape and reinforces the importance of our actions to reallocate resources toward our most significant and highest potential opportunities.While its not explicit, significant and highest potential opportunities likely refers to the live service arm of the business in this context. None of this seems to make any sense in the context of Dragon Age though, whose obvious comparison would be Baldurs Gate 3. That game had no live service or multiplayer elements at all and was just as progressive in its portrayal of characters as The Veilguard despite complaints from a minority of players.All of this might spell trouble for the next Mass Effect game, which was announced way back in 2020. As noted by project director Michael Gamble recently on X, the sequel is still in pre-production which seems early enough that live service elements could be added in light of The Veilguards underperformance.Combined that with recent layoffs at BioWare and things arent looking positive for the next Mass Effect.More TrendingAs for EAs future slate, the company is set to release Battlefield 6 before April 2026. Wilson also appeared to tease its plans for the Nintendo Switch 2, naming franchises like EA Sports FC, Madden, and The Sims with new MySims titles already having been leaked. Is this bad news for Mass Effect? (BioWare)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy