A Closer Look at the Troubled Development of Dragon Age: The Veilguard
A recent report has unveiled more details about the tumultuous journey of Dragon Age: The Veilguard during its development phase. The report highlights internal conflicts within BioWare’s teams, revealing that the game underwent a significant rewrite due to concerns about the tone of its dialogue.
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier delves into the complex story of Veilguard’s evolution from a single-player game to an online project and back to a single-player format, a narrative that many are already familiar with. The report also explores how external factors at the studio and publisher EA impacted the final version of the game, which finally launched after a decade of development.
The new information discloses that the game’s dialogue and decision-making mechanics had to be overhauled following the shift from multiplayer to single player in 2020. This transition did not involve a complete restart of the project, leaving developers to work with remnants of features intended for a different game.
An alpha build in late 2022 revealed that testers felt Veilguard lacked meaningful choices and consequences compared to BioWare’s previous titles, a result of its initial multiplayer design. This feedback prompted additional work to introduce more impactful decisions, such as a pivotal choice between saving two cities, and integrate them into the game’s narrative progression.
The report also mentions a revision of Veilguard’s dialogue tone, influenced by concerns over the reception of Square Enix’s Forspoken. The rewrite aimed to distance the game from its original “snarky” style envisioned for multiplayer and adopt a more serious approach. Additionally, feedback on the game’s June 2024 trailer raised worries about EA’s marketing strategy, steering clear of a “Fortnitey” vibe.
Internal conflicts between the original Dragon Age team and the Mass Effect team, brought in by EA for the project’s final phase in 2023, further complicated the development process. Cultural differences between the two teams exacerbated existing challenges and tensions within the studio.
In the aftermath of Veilguard’s release and subsequent layoffs at BioWare, a smaller team remains dedicated to working on Mass Effect 5, raising uncertainties about the future of the RPG studio. Despite its mixed reception, with some finding enjoyment in the game, the version of Veilguard that was delivered fell short of being a disaster.
