Dragon Age Co-Creator Offers EA Some Advice: Follow Baldur’s Gate 3 Developer Larian’s Lead

Former BioWare developers have criticized EA's assessment of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf's underperformance and the subsequent restructuring of BioWare. EA CEO Andrew Wilson attributed the game's failure to not resonate with a broad enough audience, citing a need for "shared-world features and deeper engagement" alongside strong narratives. This followed the game's reported engagement of only 1.5 million players, significantly below EA's projections.

The game's troubled development, including layoffs and the departure of key personnel, has been well-documented. Internal sources, as reported by Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, suggest the final product was a miracle given EA's initial push for live-service elements, later reversed.

Wilson's comments were interpreted by many as suggesting that incorporating multiplayer aspects would have improved sales. However, the development process involved a significant shift from a planned multiplayer game to a single-player RPG.

Prominent former BioWare developers voiced their opinions on social media. David Gaider, former narrative lead on Dragon Age, criticized EA's conclusion that the game's failure stemmed from a lack of live-service elements, calling it short-sighted. He argued that EA should emulate Larian Studios' success with Baldur's Gate 3, focusing on what made Dragon Age successful in the past.

Mike Laidlaw, another former Dragon Age creative director, expressed his strong disagreement with the idea of fundamentally altering the core single-player experience of Dragon Age to incorporate purely multiplayer elements, stating he would likely resign if faced with such a demand.

The fallout has resulted in the apparent demise of the Dragon Age franchise for the foreseeable future, with BioWare now fully concentrating on Mass Effect 5. EA's CFO, Stuart Canfield, acknowledged the changing industry landscape and the financial underperformance of Dreadwolf, justifying the resource reallocation towards Mass Effect 5, a move that reportedly significantly reduced BioWare's staff size.