Dragon Age: The Veilguard Studio Hit With Layoffs, Team Surprised Reaching Release When EA Forcing Live-Service Doctrine

Developer BioWare for roughly a decade has been working endlessly to regain the trust of its player base. After the release of Anthem, the firm has since then ushered a new mindset to work towards establishing new confidence in the developer from its users. On the horizon then was Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. That was until it was then renamed to Dragon Age: The Veilguard this past summer.

Not too long after, BioWare & Electronic Arts confirmed that the title is set to release later that fall. Propping up the fourth major installment in a franchise that was nominated for Game of the Year previously was big shoes to fit. However, with Mass Effect next on the menu, this did sacrifice chances of the game receiving post-launch content, the studio confirmed.

And with less than desirable reception for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the developer has been met with mass layoffs to the game studio entering 2025. In late January, it was reported that the BioWare team behind the newest Dragon Age was met with a wave of studio firings in anticipation to focus directly on the next Mass Effect title also in incubation at BioWare.

“The studio’s priority was Dragon Age. During this time there were people continuing to build the vision for the next Mass Effect. Now that The Veilguard has shipped, the studio’s full focus is Mass Effect. While we’re not sharing numbers, the studio has the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development,” IGN received in a statement from BioWare on the matter.

Additionally, Bloomberg from a separate report disclosed that plenty of the staffing at BioWare surrounding Dragon Age: The Veilguard are baffled that the game met its release. Amid the initial development, publisher Electronic Arts did inject live-service initiatives before the game severed those appendages. Many did not see a future for the game “after EA forced live-service into it,” but new life was breathed into it when it “reversed course” to remove those systems.

Are you surprised by this development at BioWare?

Source: IGN