EA CEO Andrew Wilson recently faced backlash for advising that Dragon Age: The Veilguard include live service features in order to attract more players. During a quarterly financial call, he criticized the game for lacking these elements, which some former developers believe undermines the integrity of a beloved single-player franchise.

Mike Laidlaw, the former creative director of Dragon Age, stated,

“Look, I’m not a fancy CEO guy, but if someone said to me, ‘the key to this successful single-player IP’s success is to make it purely a multiplayer game… I’d probably, like, quit that job or something.”
(Translation: This statement criticizes the notion of changing the core dynamics of a single-player game to merely align with current multiplayer trends.)

Gaider, another veteran from BioWare, echoed similar sentiments, urging EA to focus on the franchise aspects that resonate most with fans rather than following the live service trend exemplified by games like Fortnite. He emphasized that the internal expectations regarding The Veilguard’s performance might have been unrealistically high, questioning the metrics used to judge the game’s success.

The ongoing discourse raises critical concerns about the direction of prominent single-player titles and whether live service should be embraced amidst the current gaming environment.