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Electronic Arts has been in rocky waters recently, following the disastrous revenue report (and reception) ofDragon Age: The Veilguardand the general slump that has followed in its live service titles (such asEA FC).
Veilguardin particular, was a sore disappointment to fans and critics alike, with many lambasting the developer for a subpar campaign that hinged on the ‘woke’ territory. A recent financial report from EA seems to put the blame on something else entirely, highlighting the company’s misdirection.
Live service elements could have saved Dragon Age: The Veilguard, according to EA
As detailed within the ‘Electronic Arts Inc. Earnings Call’ for Q3 2025, EA’s performance for this particular financial year has been nothing short of underwhelming, withEA Sports FCand BioWare’s newestDragon Ageentry being blamed for these mishaps.
However, it was not the financial performance we wanted or expected
BioWare’s flagship title in particular has come across some heavy criticism on its overall execution and handling of things, with even die-hard fans of the series calling out the game.
WhileDragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t inherently a bad game by any means, it is just forgettable, and has nothing to hook the player on to. This, coupled withallegations of a ‘woke agenda’most certainly did not help sort things out either.
It should be noted here that the disappointing sales ofAnthemmight have forced EA to cancel live service elements inDragon Age, which it regrets.
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Sales figures reflected the same, and despite an initial strong start,Veilguardbarely managed to scrape by.
All of this culminated in mass layoffs from BioWare, and the studio remains a former shell of what it used to be – which is quite the unfortunate situation. We could very likely never seea newDragon Agegamecome to fruition, which is apparently to be blamed for the lack of live-service elements in the same.
Games need to directly connect to the evolving demand of players who increasingly seek shared world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives in this beloved category.
It should be noted here thatDragon Agehas traditionally been a single-player, narrative-driven RPG – and a push towards live-service-esque modes would only further alienate its playerbase.
However, it did not resonate with a broad enough audience in this highly competitive market.
This is despite initial, very positive reviews from both players and critics alike. EA does mention the market as being highly competitive, and admits that perhapsVeilguardperhaps lacked the charm to capture its audience.
EA’s denial makes things even worse
Electronic Arts’ denial is quite frankly, baffling – and not a good outlook. The last thingVeilguardneeded was monetization and live-service elements.Dragon Agehas always been a single-player game, and shoving live service elements into every franchise rarely works out.
This wouldn’t be EA’s first fumble though – they have been known to notoriously cull beloved IPs when they fail to draw in profit. A particular glaring example would beDead Space, which was cannedafter the mediocre and quite disappointing third entry.
Horror Fans, Don’t Blame EA For Not Greenlighting Dead Space 4 After the Disappointing Sales of Dead Space Remake
While they did redeem themselves with the 2023 remake, the future of the series still remains unclear, and there is no guarantee that aDragon Ageremake will not face the same problems thatVeilguarddid – or even succeed, for that matter.
EA is out of touch with its core audience here, and this could prove to be very fatal for the company. Without a playerbase to hold on to, it would likely die a slow, painful death. While things do look grim, it is hoped that EA manages to bounce back and restore itself back to its glory days – given that the other alternative is quite grim.
Dipan Saha
Articles Published :396
Dipan has been contributing to FandomWire’s Gaming and Gaming Tech sections for over half a year now. He loves writing about AAA, indie and gacha games - along with dabbling in tech from time to time. Some of his favorite games include Prince of Persia (2008), Animal Well and Death Stranding.
