A recent report reveals fresh details about Dragon Age: The Veilguard's chaotic development cycle, sparking renewed concerns about BioWare's future.

Earlier this year, EA announced The Veilguard underperformed commercial expectations by approximately 50%, coinciding with game director Corrine Busche's departure and layoffs affecting multiple BioWare staff involved with the project. By month's end, BioWare confirmed no further updates were planned, effectively concluding post-launch support.

Following IGN's previous coverage of The Veilguard's transition from single-player to live-service and back, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier provides new insights into development challenges. His reporting explains why the final product disappointed fans expecting meaningful player choices - a hallmark of BioWare's most celebrated titles.

Schreier identifies lingering multiplayer-to-single-player conversion issues impacting narrative tone, dialogue quality, and choice mechanics. Notably, Square Enix's Forspoken failure prompted late-stage dialogue rewrites, creating tonal inconsistencies as developers scrambled to replace humorous elements with serious tones.

Marketing strategy also drew internal scrutiny, with early trailers reportedly resembling Fortnite more than traditional dark fantasy RPGs, suggesting EA's marketing struggles.

EA declined Bloomberg's requests for comment.

The Veilguard's commercial failure leaves Mass Effect 5 development continuing with a skeleton crew while casting doubt on BioWare's longevity. After consecutive disappointments including Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, industry observers question whether EA might shutter the studio.

TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz notes EA requires non-sports franchises, but remarked: "if they shuttered BioWare tomorrow, I wouldn't be shocked. Their last true hit came over ten years ago."

For complete details, read Bloomberg's full investigative report.