EA impedes EA

EA bah. Bioware suc.

Report says next Dragon Age will now be single-player-only due to Anthem's fortunes, reversing EA's original plans

Fallen Order's success also influenced pivot.

Developer BioWare's highly anticipated new Dragon Age game is reportedly now a strictly single-player experience, with EA having pivoted its demands for a live-service-style game following the success of Star Wars: The Fallen Order and the failure of Anthem.

As reported by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, sources familiar with the matter say the next Dragon Age title was previously being designed with a heavy multiplayer component.

The project reportedly first entered development in 2015, but Bloomberg says that original vision was rebooted by EA and BioWare in 2017, in a grasp for long-term monetisation. This reboot - supposedly dismissed by some employees as "Anthem with dragons" - is said to be the reason behind the departure of creative director Mike Laidlaw that same year.

According to Bloomberg, however, those plans have shifted once more, and EA has now given BioWare the go-ahead to strip out Dragon Age's multiplayer component and transform it into a single-player-only experience - a process that's been ongoing over the course of recent months.

EA's pivot is reportedly attributable to two events: the reception of BioWare's multiplayer shooter Anthem - which flopped on release and will no longer receive its long-awaited overhaul as of yesterday - plus the success of developer Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars: The Fallen Order. The latter game - a strictly single-player experience - was well-received on launch and exceeded EA's sales expectations, reaching over 10 million players.

BioWare, which is also working on a new Mass Effect game, has been steadily drip-feeding details of its upcoming Dragon Age game in recent months, sharing a brief new teaser at the end of last year, as well as location news back in January. There's no official window for its release yet, but it's currently expected to arrive some time after April 2022.

If every other AAA has given up making singleplayer games and only makes live service games it's time to start making singleplayer games and corner the market.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOL

And people were telling me that the shutting down of Anthem is bad. It teached them a lesson, and that's a good thing. Even EA learns... sometimes

kinda like nintendo did with botw an mario games still coming out an there multiplayer games have great single player too lkie smash an mario kart

I didn't realize the next DA WASN'T going to be SP-only. Good thing it will be now...

Is it the beginning of the end of the GaaS era? I hope so.

Not yet. Two or so massive failures need to happen for every dev to wake the f up.

EA only had to look at Sony's single player games to see they can be very successful. However, still think DA will turn out shit.

lmao

corporate windbags

A certain lem who loves Anthem sure won't like hearing this news.

I mean sort of right move but one that should have been made long ago. If they should have learned anything about Mass Effect Andromeda's problems is that they kept making major changes far in development.

These changes might delay the game by an additional two years. DA4 is most likely for 2024

Anthem has fans?

I see this as an absolute win.

I wish I could have been witness to the board meeting that made the decision to move away from GaaS practices.

@johnd13: I don't inherently think GaaS is bad by itself, just they are really bad at it. Most companies just can't do it right.

Yes! YEEEEESSSSSS!

**** multiplayer in RPG's. I mean for real, unless your going for some sort of co-op thing to emulate a tabletop D&D experience (i.e. Neverwinter Nights, Divinity: Original Sin, etc), screw multiplayer.

Focus on levels. Focus on writing. Focus on character development.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, especially the folks that are more focused on "value" (i.e. can I still play this after I finish the singleplayer) but c'mon folks these are bread and butter RPG games that shouldn't have tacked on multiplayer.

TLDR: this is good news!

It's almost like they finally listened to consumer feedback and said "Maybe this isn't such a good idea. Maybe we can't force bullshit on to people, no matter how much we lie to them about how bad they want it"

Services in general are great if the service is great. I will willingly go to a car repair place that charges a bit more if I know their service is superior.

But unfortunately these are video game publishers and they can't offer the kind of experience I want. I don't think the logistics are really possible yet to provide people with the kind of service they deserve.

Just give us games that are finished and quality. It's not really that hard when you get down to it.

Did anyone actually play DA multiplayer?

I see this as a win but anyhow, Bioware problems goes deeper than just GaaS. Their terrible management and crunch practices led to Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem shipping below par.

1. This will definitely push the release time back. You don’t just switch the fundamental game type like that without adding time.

2. Why the hell was this even a question. DA has no business being a GaaS. It doesn’t fit with the series at all in the mainline games. Maybe a spin-off.

It’s pretty bad that this is where we are but honestly, is anyone surprised? I have not seen a truly fleshed out and deep GaaS game as of yet. Some are fun and their not bad but the sub-genre just hasn’t been fully developed yet.

EA, once upon a time: "Single player games is dead."

Me: "Anthem is dead."

Anyway, good news.

@hardwenzen: I think that Avengers game was a huge wake-up call to many developers that not ever game can support or work with gaas.

Yea, high possibility.

DA had multiplayer?

Worst thing about both those games is they had really good gameplay, they were just sub-par in every other way.

It was like a tease. ME: Andromeda was arguably the funnest ME to play, but it was the worst overall experience out of all of them.

@mrbojangles25: I believe the last one had some multiplayer mode.

I don't think EA even knows what EA is doing half the time. They have no passion for what they do and every game they made is tailored to making as much money as they can for the least amount of effort.

Fun reminder - The original Dragon Age had an NPC stand in your base whos sole purpose was to sell you DLC.

@uninspiredcup: So, business as usual. 😎

@lamprey263: I don't think so either. The way most developers/publishers implement it though is lazy and half-assed (e.g. Anthem). And it's not compatible with all kinds of games either. I don't understand how a story-driven single-player RPG can work as a GaaS.

MP doesn't have to mean GaaS. Still think coop would be a good idea.

Yeah, Nintendo has incorporated some new elements into their games, like a season pass, but the reason why you always see Nintendo games in the top selling games list is simple:

People want a straight up, no bullshit, singleplayer game.

Still going to be bad because dragon age.

EA being shit as always.

Should've been single player in the first place...

Incredibly true.

When Dragon Age was released CRPGs were deemed dead with PC gaming being decried as a relic to be left in the dust. Their was an air of desperation.

Thankfully with hindsight, reality chose a different route.

What once seemed a novelty put on a pedestal by a respected developer, now comes across as normality on a slab from once upon a time.

The derided B-Team, Paradox, the once irrelevant and almost extinguished Larian Studios, even small indie games provided little exposure like Underrail easily superseding their eroded talents.

The choo-choo is long past, it's time for Bioware to give up the ghost.

Forever.

EA and Bioware would be the companies that look at Dragon Age (shit ip and games btw), see that they sell and are well received, and go what if we turned it into something else, because we don't know if this type of game that's been successful and well received will be successful and well received.

It's just so big brain.

When this kind of ******* are in charge, don't expect anything.

Had no idea MP was planned for the next DA. Also really don't care about DA. Or anything BioWare.

Didn't EA do this with the original Dragon Age, too?

Dragon Age was originally supposed to be the follow-up to Neverwinter Nights, with a focus on fan-made campaigns and DM tools, etc.

Then after EA got involved, it ended up releasing as a really boring singleplayer console-RPG.