Analyst Says Dragon Age: The Veilguard Had a Good, But Not a Great Launch

Nope and definitely not planning to. Will be pucking up Dragon Age Origins on PC instead though.

I was a big fan of Origins, then 2 happened. Then Inquisition. Now this toothless mortgage commercial. It's a dead franchise as far as I am concerned, but that doesn't mean I want it or Bioware to disappear. We are seeing other people, and I think they are kind of jerks, but I don't want Bioware dead or anything. I don't begrudge people enjoying the version of the thing I don't like. Not like there's nothing else out there to play.
This is the epitome of "make something for everyone and you've made something for no one." It's going to happen to more and more big games. It's all so boring.

@KennethKoerperich88 Except it didn't bomb as this article proves with actual numbers. But sure if you can disprove this then provide your own numbers.

I'm still heartbroken over this game. Instead of leaning into what made DA so special they just made another hack'n'slash action game. But I shouldn't be suprised, Bioware has been allergic to RPG mechanics for quite a while now.

Ah well, at least I still got a metric-ton of games in my backlog to fill that void. Over the last decade I've saved a LOT of money by exploring and playing past classics. To get $70-$90 out of me for a new game it needs to be something very special, and not in the way your mom says you're "special". 😋

@DennisReynolds The game didn't "bomb" in a literal sense, but relative to its likely production cost. There is a large range of numbers floating around out there, and I can't begin to tell you what it actually is. You do have to consider that the title was started, scrapped, started again, scrapped again, and finally started a third time. It had a 10-year development cycle. The $200m mark I see pop up the most doesn't seem terribly far-fetched, and that doesn't include marketing which could add quite a bit more.

It's in the same sense that a home run isn't necessarily a failure unless you're down 3 at the bottom of the ninth. In that sense, you need a grand slam just to go up 1.

Someone probably needs to do some pushups.

@IntrepidWombat When i look at a bomb i look at something that has made no profit or has not made enough profit. Right now we don't know how much money its made but we do know its selling ok enough, maybe its not the big hit EA expected but its not exactly Lego Horizon either.

@IntrepidWombat Source for that number? Also seems disingenuous to mention the game took 10 years, it obviously was not in full production for a decade. They didn't even tease it until 6 years ago & it had many things happen to delay its release.

It failed. They will never tell the truth but an IP like this should be big. Now all the bribes are for spinning the truth after launch. Mass Effect is their next failure.

@Lavishturtle Did you even read the article or did you just come here to let everyone know how cool you are for disliking a video game? (Don't answer please because it's obvious) The subject of this article is literally about how the game isn't a failure, it has decent sales numbers.

I played 5 hrs and it's a far cry from the DA games of old. Not even on the level of inquisition. I'd suggest anyone who still wants it to wait for a massive sale. Push Squares reviewer must have been high. 😉

As Dragon Age Origins and Inquisition have shown before, the series is evergreen with the likes of Skyrim and The Witcher. It's something that people will buy for a long time to come, and because it's single player won't be reliant on short term server lifecycle.

For something for comparison, I'd love someone to look into the lifetime sales of Dragon Age Origins and how many sold in the first week or month. It became a hit over time.

Sorry, but I think that 6 (or possibly 5!) for a new release with this pretigous a name is terrible.
But let's see: the most clear and obvious test is if it goes up or down and stays there.

@LuXifer That's the problem with making a huge game, especially after two huge flops. This had to be the safest thing in the world, and DA is just the wrong series for that, imo. I hope this was just them being safe and ME can still have an identity. I'm not gonna lie though, if we get Mass Effect Babies, I will die laughing.

The game I has fun gameplay, but a completely toothless story, and characters that just aren’t very interesting. Maybe it gets better, but there are games with more fun gameplay and/or a better story I can sink 50-80 hours into.

That said, hope it sells decently, I don’t want the franchise to die - I just want to see it unafraid to deal with heavier themes again.

Hopefully people will now go back and play DA2 and realise that it's a very well written game with a great set of companions.

a very normal comment section like always for this game

Imagine hoping a game fails and obsessing over day after day, checking Steamdb daily, every sales chart possible, posting about it in every comment section possible day after day.

Well actually you don't need to imagine, it's the new reality for people with too much hate in their heart and not enough joy. Maybe time for a new hobby eh.

@ChrisDeku Toxic negativity is a very bad thing to engage in. But so is toxic positivity. I'm seeing plenty of that, too.

Veil guard is a generic game poorly cosplaying as a Dragon age game. And no, I'm not hoping for the downfall of any Company, just stating facts.

Still playing this game (and probably will be for a while), and still really enjoying it.

Is it perfect? - No, but it is one of my favourite games this year, and if I were to score it today it would be between an 8 and a 9 (some of its early game issues are resolving as I continue). Playing on Pro.

I do wish your chosen background - particularly faction, had much more affect on dialogue options.

@LifeGirl being a fan of something is not toxic positivity. Talking about something you like is a reflection of the happiness and joy that product brings you. I'm happy that the new DA brings a lot of joy to some people.

Obsessing over something you don't like, haven't played, and hoping for it's failure(and the subsequent mass unemployment that would likely follow) is just really weird and not bringing anything positive to the world or any of these discussions.

Matt piscatella has the literal sales data for this game, and almost every other game released for the past 20 years. Whatever he says is as close to fact as you can get, end of story. The game had a good but not great opening. Random people with no data privileges saying otherwise and obsessing over their belief it's a massive bomb is just white noise.

About 4 hours in so far, the game is pretty good! The dialogue can get a bit Young Adult level of cringe at times but the amount of choices are more than I expected, the visuals are great, and I’m digging the combat/level design.

Not a masterpiece but not the trash pile a lot of people were desperately hoping it would be.

I’m enjoying dragon age the veilguard a lot more then I was expecting to, second favourite in the series after origins so it’s nice to see that it’s sold a good amount of copies.

I’m going to get it, likely for Christmas. Very expensive on PS5 at the minute. There are lots of full-priced games out there and not everything can sell bucket-loads straight off.

@Oram77
Thats an opinion I see, but my feelings about this series are very different - I didnt play the early games (cant remember why), but I did play Inquisition, and for me it was an OK, but highly forgettable game.

Before playing Veilguard I had to look at one of those "previously on Dragon age" videos, to remind myself, and wasnt filled with nostalgic memories.

10 years after Inquisition I had zero interest in this series until I saw some recent footage / info, and read the Pushsquare review.
Im not all the way through yet, but at the moment my feeling is I would love to see a further game in the series.

@DonJorginho
I kind of wish more people would give it a go - they might find out that they actually have a good time!

(I am finding some of the team random dialogue to be really funny - particularly if Lucanis is on the team)

@LikelySatan We can but hope, they sure could use a smash hit. Either way it'll be interesting to watch how it unfolds.

This game was in development for around 10 years and is a big disappointment. As far as I’m concern BioWare is dead.

I wasn't expected much, but pleasantly surprised. This is actually a very good game (a solid 8 for me), I enjoy most of the quests and a combat is really fun too. I think most of the negativity coming from those who actually never had played the game...

The fact this game needs to be constantly defended raises alarm bells for my wallet. I'll wait till it's a tenner, likely in a month...

It's funny to see people in the comments saying how Inquisition and 2 were so much better when those games were also hated at first. The discourse just repeats itself.

It took 10 years for Inquisition to sell 14 million. Dragon Age has always been a slow burner, it's never been as big as Mass Effect so time will tell.

@Fartingale Same here! I'd probably rate them
DA:O - DA:V - DA2 - DA:I

Not one is the same but I think they're all great in their own way.

@Cloud39472 I'd say Inquisition and 2 are still middling to bad, respectively. It wouldn't surprise me if this put DA in the grave. I always find it odd when someone describes themselves as a fan of the series. I'm like...you just like Dragons, lol? Cause the games are just so different in most every regard.

@yohn777 Asking for a "Source?" In the age of a search engine that has the totality of human knowledge indexed and searchable. Really? I already said that I have no idea what the actual production cost is. Feel free to search for it yourself.

It's more than fair to say that it had a 10 year development cycle because it did. The final product only took them 3.5 years to make, but it should doesn't change the fact that the fourth Dragon Age game was in development for the last decade, whether or not all of that material was actually used.

@LikelySatan lol some of my favourite series are ones that change a lot from game to game like Dragon Age and Final Fantasy. I just love Thedas and the overarching story and characters like Solas and Morrigan.

I also don't think this will kill the series. The sales are on par with how Dragon Age usually performs in its first few weeks.

According to THIS analyst, this game is totally whack! Better luck next time, studio.

People thinking/wanting this to be Dragon Age Orgins 2.0 need to remember Dragon Age never tried to be that again.
Like it or not that was something Bioware didn't want to put out again. After that the games were more focused on action.
If two out of three games weren't strategy-oriented I'd say the series stopped being that.
For me, it was a blessing, Origins was such a chore, from the gameplay to the writing.
Finished like 6 times both 2 and Inquisition, got the Platinum in both but never went back to replay Origins.

Hard to believe the same people who made Origins and Inquisition made this.

As someone who actually played around 30 hours of the game so far, the controversy surrounding it is way overblown. I thought it would be much worse. It's still not good and there is definitely some small stuff I don't like (like black elves, everyone bi, one of the companions missing a leg, no big tits slider xD), but overall so far nothing that made me delete the game. And I delete games pretty quickly^^

Congrats I guess on your decent game launch BioWare. Not failing is a win for you

@IntrepidWombat Ah, so each of your comments hold no value. 10 years, $200 million, 3.5 years, none of that was researched or mattered? You can't just say whatever you want & be like "Well?!?!". Like, it's just on me to do the work or take your word for it? Cool. Now I know to ignore all your future pointless comments, thanks!

@yohn777 Yes, it is on you. If you want the information, go get it. It's not my responsibility to verify information for you. It's an internet forum. The stakes aren't that high. Get a grip, and get over yourself.

Controversy aside, how much a long awaited game that is a sequel to a beloved franchise sells in its first month is mostly irrelevant. Many people will buy the game based on expectations and history. Its long tail (how it sells over time) and how many buy the next one, is a far more telling metric.

I have not. I considered and watched some gameplay and proceeded to vomit when i saw those plastic doll models.
How far it has fallen from origins.

Bought the game and my partner is playing through it and enjoying it immensely. I'm currently playing through Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and will move onto Dragon Age: The Veilguard once we're both finished with our current playthroughs.

The noise surrounding this game is just that, noise. From hateful people, mostly and essentially. I do not spend energy giving them attention and neither should anyone else that enjoys the series.

The high review scores from critics we're simply not justified. Integrity was sacrificed and I was red spilled regarding propaganda from the main media outlets. I will definitely more skeptical in future before purchasing games

@MeanBeanEgg (Note: I am speaking generally, not about this or that game specifically)

Take this to its logical extreme, imagine a game that is so obviously bad that only one person in the world bought it, and they gave it a 8/10. Should we discount the opinions of the rest of the world that recognized a stinker before spending their money on it, because their opinions are not valid unless they paid for the game? Should this game go down in history as a great game, an 8/10, or should it be recognized that its flaws were obvious enough that one could easily make a judgment on the game without having bought it?

I don't agree with reviewing a game that you haven't done any kind of research on; but I also don't think that you have to buy the game for your opinion on it to matter either. Do I know the solution? No. But discounting all voices that didn't buy the game is going to give you a very slanted viewpoint.