Magnus is far from the only one that thought Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a great game, but maybe not as impressive as fans of the franchise hoped. Top that with heated debates about the game being "woke", a long development with massive changes and BioWare disappointing many with Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda, and it's understandable that many feared the beloved studio was in trouble. Tonight's news will definitely not change that.
A press release from EA reveals that Dragon Age: The Veilguard only sold/engaged approximately 1.5 million players in 2024. I write "only" because the giant publisher expected 3 million, so the actual number is around half of that.
What makes this even worse is the "engaged" part, as it means that the 1.5 million includes the subscribers of EA's Play Pro service who played it for "free". It might even count those who've played the free trial on EA Play...
Not that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the only game that has made EA lower its expectations for this fiscal year that ends on the 1st of April, as EA Sports FC 25 also failed. The difference between these two is that EA expected the football franchise's increasing success to continue, when it actually declined a bit. EA Sports FC 25 also has a chance to "redeem" itself with microtransactions and such, which means that the only studio in real trouble here is BioWare. Not a fun pressure to have on your shoulders when one of your directors just left and the new Mass Effect is still years away...