Dragon Age: The Veilguard received strong reviews (including my own), but it failed to meet publisher Electronic Arts's sales expectations. This resulted in job cuts at developer BioWare, which now reportedly has under a hundred staff members, a worrying prospect for their upcoming Mass Effect project.
During yesterday's Q3 2025 earnings call, Electronic Arts finally discussed the launch's commercial failure. In a statement (transcript via Fool.com), CEO Andrew Wilson outlined that it was a high-quality game that failed to captivate a large audience, partly because players 'increasingly seek shared world features and deeper engagement.'
Our blockbuster storytelling strategy is built on three strategic objectives: first, create an authentic story experience for the core audience; second, build innovative groundbreaking features; and third, emphasize high-quality launches across both PC and console. 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. Dragon Age: The Veilguard 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.
Later in the earnings call, Stuart Canfield, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Electronic Arts, added:
Dragon Age: The Veilguard underperformed, highlighting the competitive dynamics of the single-player RPG market. [...] Historically, blockbuster storytelling has been the primary way our industry bought beloved IP to players. The game's 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.
The latter sentence is certainly worrying for fans of blockbuster single player games. It sounds like Electronic Arts might once again veer toward live service, and their previous attempts (like Anthem) were far from memorable. Still, the studio does have at least three single player games in production: the Iron Man game, the Black Panther game, and the third and final entry in the Star Wars Jedi series.
