Sometimes, you can tell a game is “doomed” just by looking at what the developer is offering and how they present it to gamers. We had that kind of thing recently with a certain title from the now-defunct Firewalk Studios. However, there are also times when you think a game “won’t do well,” and yet it does do well, and that’s to be praised. The question with Dragon Age The Veilguard was which of the two options would it fall under. The game had been in developmental limbo for almost a decade, and then, when Bioware finally pulled things together, gamers weren’t exactly excited about what was being offered.
To that end, despite good reviews from critics, players haven’t been so kind about the game. However, they could have been the “vocal minority” and thus not represented the whole of the gaming space. That brings us to today’s story, which we do want to note right off the bat is unconfirmed as a whole.
A leak came out this week that Dragon Age The Veilguard had apparently only sold 500K units since launch, which wouldn’t be that good at all. Just as important, the leak was said to have come from someone within Bioware itself. That leak also claimed that over 30K players asked for a refund, which would put the game’s sales even lower.
As Smash JT discusses in the video below, Bioware is apparently not happy about this leak and is attempting to find the whistleblower. However, that’s not all the company is doing, as it’s apparently stating that the game has now sold a million units.
JT went even further by noting that “toxic positivity” has taken over Bioware:
“They’re more concerned with silencing any ‘whistleblowers’ than addressing any actual issues within the company. […] the toxic positivity has taken over the workplace.”
If that sounds familiar, it was the same kind of thing that happened with Firewalk Studios. The developers within were told not to critique Concord or suggest ways to improve it. The higher-ups, including a key member of Sony whose “pet project” it was, refused to move from their vision. Thus, the game failed miserably.
While we can’t say that Bioware’s title “failed miserably,” even if it did sell a million units, that’s not exactly a success. After all, they’ve spent many years on this game, and need to recoup costs. Until all of this is confirmed or denied, though, keep it in the realm of rumor.