Former Dragon Age Lead Responds to EA’s Out-of-Touch Live-Service Remarks

Mike Laidlaw, former creative director of Dragon Age, publicly criticized EA CEO’s push for a live-service model for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a direction that was eventually abandoned during development.

“If someone said to me ‘the key to this successful single-player IP’s success is to make it purely a multiplayer game. No, not a spin off: fundamentally change the DNA of what people loved about the core game’ to me, I’d probably, like, quit that job or something,” he said. 

According to IGN, many product leads for The Veilguard departed while the game was still in development – likely a result of conflicting views regarding Dragon Age’s management under EA. 

EA makes a large portion of their revenue from live-service games, a model that has become an industry standard. The core idea behind making Dragon Age: The Veilguard a live-service game seems to be rooted in financial gain – opting to dismiss the franchise’s core identity as an immersive single player game to appeal to a wider audience.

The Dragon Age series initially earned its reputation for its immersive storytelling, tackling profound societal issues while providing impactful in-game choices. The change in game direction from single player to live service back to single player inevitably impacted the narrative structure and overall cohesion of the triple A game.

This absence of the series’ hallmark traits likely contributed to its underperformance, as it reached only 50% of its 3 million players sales target.