EA CEO Andrew Wilson has claimed that BioWare’s action role-playing game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, failed due to its lack of live service elements.
During Electronic Arts’ Q3 2025 Earnings Conference Call, CEO Andrew Wilson expressed disappointment with the company’s financial performance during the quarter. He brought up the lower-than-expected performance of the EA Sports FC franchise as one of the reasons. He also mentioned that while Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched successfully and received strong reviews from both critics and players, it struggled to attract a broader player base in an increasingly competitive market. He revealed that the game engaged around 1.5 million players during Q3 2025, falling short of almost 50% of what EA had expected.
Regarding Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s inability to reach a wider audience, Wilson said that games must align with the changing expectations of players who prioritize “shared-world features” and “deeper engagement” alongside compelling narratives. In other words, he expected the game to have been more successful if it featured live service elements.
Ironically, Dragon Age: The Veilguard originally started off as a live service game, as revealed by the game’s co-directors Corinne Busche and John Epler. Ultimately, however, they pivoted to a single-player experience. Busche said that she felt very supported through this decision by BioWare and EA, According to her, it’s intimidating to buck the trends in an era where it feels like almost every game must be an open world. She added that, for BioWare, the way in which it tells the best stories and stays true to its roots is through a more handcrafted and intimate experience. Wilson now seems to believe that pivoting back to a single-player experience was the wrong call for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
After the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare was hit with layoffs in the name of restructuring. Read about it here.
