This week, Electronic Arts delivered its Q3 financial results, for which it has been preparing investors for bad news for several weeks. While EA Football Club missed expectations, the company seemingly expected more from single-player RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard after its critical success, which failed to manifest into sales success. At the quarterly earnings, Wilson theorized that the market has changed and consumers want more live-service mechanics in their games while stopping just short of tying Dragon Age: The Veilguard to the thought.
“In order to break out beyond the core audience, games need to directly connect to the evolving demands of players who increasingly seek shared-world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives in this beloved category,” Wilson said on the call.
In a separate though likely related thought, Wilson commented on Dragon Age: The Veilguard specifically. “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.”
In the interceding ten years since Dragon Age: Inquisition’s release, it was reported by former BioWare producer Mark Darrah that developer BioWare had been tasked with making the latest Dragon Age title more of a live service game by EA with multiplayer trappings. The game, which was then known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, was rebooted to remove the live service aspects, a change that Wilson seems to believe was a mistake.
Wilson is correct that a lot of money is being made in live service titles currently. Games like Fortnite have made over $40 billion revenue according to Epic’s accounting, which does indicate there is an appetite for these kinds of things from the audience. But does that mean everyone making a single-player RPG should pivot to, as Wilson says, shared-world features? Or a multiplayer focus that The Veilguard possessed? The numbers do not quite bare that out, either.
The closest modern analog to Dragon Age as a series is likely Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3, a series that BioWare themselves originated. In 2024, Larian announced that Baldur’s Gate 3 had sold 15 million copies without any live service integration. That is three million more than BioWare’s best selling title, Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Another recent example of live-service hybridization with single-player games is Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad, based in the popular Arkham universe and matching closely to the WB movies of the same name. While WB has not given out direct numbers for the title, it has called sales “disappointing.” This presents a strong argument that forcing this model on a market that does not want it does not guarantee a success. After all, is there a lot of crossover between Fortnite and Dragon Age’s audiences?
It is unclear how this lessons or Wilson’s words will affect EA’s games going forward. The publisher has indicated that BioWare’s only upcoming project for the foreseeable future will be a new Mass Effect, but the structure and even design philosophy behind it has yet to be nailed down. Given Wilson’s comments this week, it seems likely that the hybrid model will at least be a fundamental consideration for the title.
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