Dragon Age: The Veilguard marked the long-awaited return of EA and BioWare's acclaimed action role-playing franchise. But after ten years of waiting, it seems fans weren't too eager to return to the fantasy world.
EA recently announced the preliminary results for the third fiscal quarter, and things don't look too good for the publisher in the short term. In its report, the company noted that it projects a mid-single-digit decline in live service net bookings, which is down from the initial guidance that anticipated a mid-single-digit growth.
The change in guidance was attributed to the underperformance of both Dragon Age: The Veilguard and EA Sports FC 25.
For Dragon Age: The Veilguard, EA noted that the 2024 action RPG "engaged approximately 1.5 million players during the quarter, down nearly 50% from the company’s expectations."
Normally 1.5 million players wouldn't be a disappointing figure, but Dragon Age: Veilguard was in development since 2015 and underwent multiple lengthy delays. We're not quite sure how much EA spent producing the game, but it couldn't have been cheap. And considering Dragon Age is one of BioWare's flagship series, it's understandable that EA was expecting to see bigger numbers from it.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard received "generally favorable" reviews among critics who praised the game for its engaging story, interwoven narrative, and compelling characters and interesting companions. Gameplay was described as approachable and action-oriented.
The general gamer audience, however, seemed to have a much different opinion of the game. The user score of Dragon Age: The Veilguard on Metacritic is just 3.9, although many discount this score as "review bombing." Prior to release, the game was heavily criticized for being "woke," with many targeting its representation of transgender and non-binary characters.
While many of the user reviews do refer to the game as "woke," there is some valid criticism such as the gameplay becoming "repetitive" and the writing being too childish.
Reviews aside, all that really matters for a game of this magnitude is sales. And from a commercial standpoint, it was a flop for EA.
However, it wasn't EA's only disappointment. Global Football, which had experience two consecutive years of double-digita net bookings growth, "experienced a slowdown as early momentum in the fiscal third quarter did not sustain through to the end."
“During Q3, we continued to deliver high-quality games and experiences across our portfolio; however, Dragon Age and EA SPORTS FC 25 underperformed our net bookings expectations,” said Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA. “This month, our teams delivered a comprehensive gameplay refresh in addition to our annual Team of the Year update in FC 25; positive player feedback and early results are encouraging. We remain confident in our long-term strategy and expect a return to growth in FY26, as we execute against our pipeline.”
EA will announce the results for the third fiscal quarter on February 4, 2025. The earnings call should provide more clarity on the sales of both titles.
Regardless of EA Sports FC 25's performance, EA will continue to make soccer games. Sports titles are one of EA's biggest moneymakers, especially with Ultimate Team, so that franchise is probably safe. Dragon Age, however, seems to be in bigger danger after such a lengthy development time.