A report has shed new light on the tumultuous development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and raised concerns about BioWare’s future.
Jason Schreier from Bloomberg (via IGN) revealed new details about what happened at BioWare during The Veilguard‘s production, explaining exactly why the game disappointed some fans by lacking meaningful choices and consequences—essential qualities that define BioWare’s greatest games.
Schreier reported that many of The Veilguard‘s issues stemmed from its shift from multiplayer to single-player RPG, impacting its tone, dialogue, and player agency. One key revelation: BioWare grew alarmed by Square Enix’s Forspoken failure, fearing The Veilguard‘s now-dated sarcastic tone might invite similar backlash. This prompted a “late rewrite” of game dialogues to “make it more serious,” causing tonal inconsistencies.
Internal concerns also arose about The Veilguard‘s marketing (“an initial trailer made the new Dragon Age resemble Fortnite more than a dark fantasy RPG, sparking worries that EA misunderstood how to market the game”).