There was a time when Bioware was one of the greatest video game developers ever, and that was not hyperbole. The team crafted one incredible RPG title after another with seemingly no end until a certain “ending backfire” led to massive changes that are still rippling out through this decade. Ever since that point, the team tried and failed to do a grand-scale live-service title, utterly failed to recapture the glory of its most prized trilogy with a 4th entry that no one wants to talk about, and then, it spent about ten years making Dragon Age The Veilguard, only for it to become one of its most divisive titles amongst fans.
That’s not hyperbole, either. Even before the game launched, details that Bioware gave out didn’t “feel right” with how players felt the next title should be, especially after the success of the previous entry, an entry that had won “Game of the Year” by many pundits, including The Game Awards. Yet, with Dragon Age The Veilguard, key story beats and ongoing plotlines were cut out to craft “something new.” The game’s feel was also different, and many didn’t resonate with it. To that end, the game’s sales have been talked about endlessly due to solid numbers not coming out at all about it. Some feel that the game has done terribly, while others “in the know” claim that it’s done fine. However, the one group that could answer the question for good… isn’t doing so.
In a chat with Eurogamer, several members of Bioware came together to talk about their newest title post-launch, and they were straight-up asked about the “commercial success” of the game. However, despite being asked that very direct question, game director Corinne Busche had this to say in response:
“Unfortunately on the sales side, that’s not something we can really discuss, but of course as we know with Inquisition, that was a long burn to get to those total sales numbers.”
… that’s not a good answer. After all, WHY can’t they discuss it? If they said that they “don’t have a solid sales number right now due to digital sales and totals not being counted in full yet,” that would be one thing and mostly believable. However, she’s saying that they CAN’T discuss it, and that raises all sorts of red flags.
Just as important, while the last entry did sell 10 million and was a “slow burn” to get there to a certain extent, it got there because it had a great launch to kick things off. With that response, it seems clear that this new entry didn’t have that at all.
