BioWare is going through unexpected hurdles following the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard in October 2024. Well, BioWare is renowned for gifting gamers some of the most popular gaming series, including Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate, and Dragon Age. But the recent failure of The Veilguard has changed the scenario.
The last few months were a rollercoaster ride of emotions for the Dragon Age fans. While EA and BioWare promised to bring something grand, The Veilguard didn’t meet the expectations. Released after ten years of Dragon Age: Inquisition, a GoTY award-winning game, The Veilguard was supposed to have revived the franchise, but the underwhelming reception of this game hit hard.
The recent report by EA has clearly stated that Dragon Age: The Veilguard didn’t meet what the publishers hoped for. While the expectation was to reach at least 3 million players, the reality revealed that it was down to 1.5 million. Multiple factors may have caused this failure, but it has led to unavoidable consequences.
First, gamers started doubting the future of their favorite franchise after this unappealing installment. Additionally, they have already started questioning the credibility of BioWare to make good RPGs. Secondly, it has affected EA financially. The trend shows there’s no hope for this player count to be increased in the future. Now that EA has suffered through losses, it has taken measures accordingly that have affected BioWare to a great extent.
Set more than a decade later after the events of the previous game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard lets players take the role of Rook, the protagonist of the game, whose objective is to stop the elven trickster god Fen'Harel from unleashing the twisted elven gods who have been sealed for centuries. The story revolves around his adventures to stop these evil gods.
However, this story didn’t attract the attention of players who wanted to meet the expectations. As a result, the story writer lost his job. Patrick Weekes, the writer of The Veilguard, has announced his departure from BioWare and mentioned, “I'm now looking for a new writing/narrative position. It's been a privilege to work with so many amazing devs over my 20 years at BioWare, and I will cherish the memories of the wonderful folks in the community I've met along the way.”
Almost every other person associated with The Veilguard was moved to somewhere else by EA or lost their jobs to restructure BioWare following the failure. For instance, The Veilguard's creative director, John Epler, was moved to Full Circle's upcoming skateboarding game Skate. Similarly, the senior writer of The Veilguard, Sheryl Chee, was shifted to Motive to work on Iron Man.
EA’s announcement of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s failure and this restructure have transformed BioWare into a less than 100-person company. According to the reports, these relocations are permanent, and those shifted elsewhere are no longer BioWare employees.
Of course, BioWare is struggling and facing the consequences, but that doesn’t mean EA has taken all the projects from it. BioWare’s other massively successful gaming series, Mass Effect, is in the making. Reportedly, EA wants BioWare to focus solely on making Mass Effect 5. While the Dragon Age franchise is in uncertainty with all the team members either laid off or shifted to other studios, BioWare still has a chance to prove its abilities with Mass Effect 5.
Currently, this Canadian developer company is completely focused on the upcoming Mass Effect series game, as it will decide the future of this company. It seems to be the final chance for BioWare to deliver something good and maintain its existence in the gaming world. If Mass Effect 5 also fails, like The Veilguard, the probability is high that BioWare will be closed.
However, currently, the departure of some talented writers, creative directors, and other staff members has raised questions among fans about the future of the Mass Effect game. While they have already lost their trust in the studio, this mass layoff has increased their worries regarding Mass Effect 5.