By After a decade of eagerness among Dragon Age enthusiasts, EA revealed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard did not achieve the company’s financial targets during a recent earnings call. EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson admitted that The Veilguard’s lackluster performance reflects the “changing industry landscape.” EA’s CFO Stuart Canfield further suggested that the game might have fared better if it had been a live service title. Now, a former Dragon Age developer has provided his take on EA’s comments.
Former Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw shared his thoughts on Bluesky, where he humorously questioned “Who’d be foolish enough to suggest something like that? …Twice.” At one stage during its development, The Veilguard was initially planned to be a live service game before the decision was made to revert to a single-player format.
“Look, I’m not a high-ranking CEO type,” wrote Laidlaw. “But if someone told me ‘The secret to this successful single-player franchise’s achievement is to convert it entirely into a multiplayer game. No, not a spin-off: fundamentally alter the essence of what fans loved about the original game,’ I’d probably just, like, quit that job or something.”
Laidlaw indeed left his position at BioWare and subsequently founded an indie studio called Yellow Brick Games, which recently launched its first title, Eternal Strands.
If EA executives genuinely believe that a live service model could have turned The Veilguard into a success, it raises questions about whether the company plans to transform Mass Effect 5 into a live service experience. BioWare was hit with numerous layoffs following The Veilguard’s disappointing results, and is now reportedly left with fewer than 100 developers to work on the next Mass Effect.