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As EA hints The Veilguard's low sales could be due to a lack of live service elements, former Dragon Age lead calls out 'silly' demands to 'fundamentally change the DNA of what people loved'
Dragon Age: The Veilguard's underperformance has sparked debate, with BioWare veterans criticizing EA's push for live service models, arguing that fundamentally altering the core single-player experience damaged the game's appeal and led to layoffs.
Three months have now passed since BioWare finally saw the long-awaited release of its new RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and the game has reportedly failed to meet EA's sales expectations since then – series veterans say that doesn't mean it should've launched as a live service title.
Speaking in a recent online thread after EA's quarterly earnings call in which the publisher insisted that The Veilguard "did not resonate with a broad enough audience" to meet sales expectations, former creative director Mike Laidlaw appears to disagree with games going the live service route to ensure financial success – a sentiment fellow BioWare veteran David Gaider shared himself following EA's conference.
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"Look," writes Laidlaw, "I'm not a fancy CEO guy, but if someone said to me 'the key to this successful single-player IP's success is to make it purely a multiplayer game. No, not a spin-off: fundamentally change the DNA of what people loved about the core game' to me, I'd probably, like, quit that job or something." He continues his thoughts in separate replies, stating that he's "just thinking out loud, of course."
Laidlaw doesn't sugarcoat his words, though: "Who'd be silly enough to demand something like that? ...twice." It's an understandable stance to take, especially when considering EA's own implications during the company's quarterly earnings call, as well as the layoffs across BioWare following The Veilguard's underperformance. Despite not hitting sales expectations, however, EA admitted the RPG "was well-reviewed by critics and those who played."