Dragon Age: The Veilguard Director Is Leaving BioWare

I've got the game but still haven't played it yet so I'm not going to fully judge it, but if I do end up having issues with it I'm not going to blame her. The development of this game was an utter mess from all reports so joining the project in the later stages and being able to release something is commendable at least. I wish her the best.

I don't follow games as much as I used to, but it seems to me Bioware as we knew it just died after Inquisition. Andromeda is meh, Veilguard is meh. I don't understand how it got such high reviews. Boring story/characters, sanitized, and dumbed down gameplay. Bioware is dead imo and I have 0 hope for the next Mass Effect.

That's sad that her legacy will be biowares worst performing game

Mechanically, Veilguard is actually pretty good, but the writing is just so subpar. So ham-fisted and shallow.

I still fundamentally disagree with Push Square: Andromeda is a vastly superior game to Veilguard.

Not very surprised by this news, obviously didn't deserve all the harassment she got. But I will stand on this hill and say this was a terrible Dragon age game.

My feelings on this are summed up perfectly by the great Jeremy Clarkson.

“Oh no! Anyway…”

Well that's great. Crap on a whole series of games, screw your studio over, deliver a terrible game and then jump ship. Hope they're happy. Does anyone know where they are going so we can avoid any other games they get involved in?

@themightyant Anthem sold 5mil copies, Dragon age veil guard sold 1.5mil, so yes their statement still stands.

most people i know who have played Dragon age veilgaurd actually enjoyed it

I love this Game. The way it was skewered online was awful to see unfold.

I really enjoyed Veilguard, hope they continue the series with more of a BG3 style game.

I thought that the writing in ME Andromeda was awful but I still played through it twice because it's decent to actually play. I'm waiting on a mega sale or PS Plus/Game Pass job for Veilguard. From the many, many gameplay clips I've seen of it, the writing sounds just as awful, if not worse, than Andromeda's.

Not surprised. Doesn't matter anyway considering this Bioware is a different company now.

Mass Effect Andromeda is still miles better than Veilguard. It eclipses it in gameplay and even the writing is no contest.

She saved the project. Veilguard is very good.
I do not agree with the writing nonsense people speak about. Playing the game, the actions the characters make are logical.

I do wish they patched in the blood splatter and new game+ though. The art style is clearly a remnant of the live service. But, the game is very good. Great combat customisation.

I was skeptical, but after playing, this is Bioware getting out of the gutter and that mage vs templar nonsense that hamstrung the series for so long. The stakes are real once more.
I am optimistic about Mass effect 4. Don't listen to the internet haters/social warriors. This is a good game.

Pretty sure rumors are that bioware edmonton is going to be shuttered around tbe next financial meetings

@themightyant here is the source for the Anthem numbers. It comes from a former EA marketing director that used a bunch of EA games sales info in his Linkedin profile as part of his resume. Jade Empire only counted sales for a month and it sold 0.5 million, but that was 20 years ago when a game breaking a million copies was a huge deal. In comparison that would be like a game breaking 10 million copies sold today. Also it is a bit disingenuous to count Shadow Realms since the game never got made. I have no horse in the whole Veilguard "controversy" but as it stands right now there is a solid argument that the game is Bioware's worst performing game in its history. From an objective standpoint it is just a very mediocre role playing game in a franchise known for giving players narrative freedom.

https://www.pcgamer.com/anthem-sold-5-million-copies-which-sounds-good-until-you-compare-it-to-star-wars-battlefront/

The thing about a terrible game in a franchise is that its quality doesn't tend to impact its initial sales (though it will impact its long term numbers), since the initial sales and pre-order numbers are a result of the success of previous releases and the trust/goodwill that the studio has built up over the years.

Its always the next release that tends to be impacted by the poor reception of a game release. Trust and goodwill that was eroded by the previous release has to be re-earned.

@thedevilsjester Good call, I think CDPR and the Witcher 4 will be in that boat, because I think Cyberpunk burnt alot of good will and trust.

When you screw up as bad as she did you get canned.

It’s a fantastic game, and it arrived day 1 polished and bug free - that’s worth praise alone.

There is a hate campaign against the game online which quite frankly tiresome because of its strong push towards inclusivity.

20 years ago if you didn’t like a game you would go play something else but people now make it an obsession to start campaigns against it, which involve targeting developers. It’s incredibly sad and I actually feel a little sorry for the people who sit online and type this type of bile.

@themightyant "baseless statements"?? they just gave you the sales figures for the all games you asked about... even the game from 2005. Just like you I have no horse in this race either, but you asked for figures and that's what you got.

@themightyant the only sales figures for veilguard in the public is from 1 months ago. Bioware announced the game had sold over 1 million copies. Considering that Anthem sold 2 million in its first week (again verified by the previous source) it is fair to say that the game is underperforming hard

@Oram77 Veilguard will very obviously sell 5M+, it’s like people have forgotten how time works or something. Games sell for 10 years now, not 4 weeks, it’s not 1996 anymore. Inquisition probably only sold like 1 million at launch (i remember in its launch week in the uk it only made number 5 in the official charts and sales were on par with DAII which I don’t remember setting the world alight).

Also, Jade Empire very likely did not sell 1M lifetime, the game was a massive bomb. It was pretty good too, box art was horrific though.

@PloverNutter

Bioware announced the game had sold over 1 million copies

Do you have any evidence for this announcement that no one else in the world appears to have seen?

@Oram77 I think Witcher 4 will sell gangbusters, but maybe won't have as strong pre-order numbers as Cyberpunk did. CDPR definitely lost a lot of good will when Cyberpunk 2077 first came out, but they put the work in and got a lot of it back. 30 million for 2077 and 50 million for Witcher 3 is nothing to sneeze at.

@wildcat_kickz Oh I know it will sell really well (I'll be getting it day 1) it will be just interesting to see if Cyberpunk does have a knock on effect. Currently playing Cyberpunk for the first time and I'm really enjoying, just a shame it launched in a terrible condition.

@ChrisDeku "Will obviously sell 5M+" that's a very bold claim to make. I mean we are talking Dragon age here, the IP is massive and should be doing way better then what it is currently doing. Just for the record I don't hate DAV because of the dumb "controversy", but because like I originally said it's a terrible Dragon age game and should of been a new IP.

@cuttlefishjones n1

@RagnarLothbrok It would be absolutely crazy if they closed Bioware after this game. It is a high quality game. Some people may have issue with the writing but from a technical and design level the game is almost flawless. It would be insane to just fire the team that made it in the last 2 years.
Unless this was made at Austin or something.

The fact anything got released at all is an achievement after it's tortured development.

@Nem i mean thats just what is being reported. And was reported by the same people that now every major media outlet is suddenly claiming is their own story on the director leaving

DAV was my 2nd best game of last year (behind Astro), and probably in my top 10 of the generation overall.

The script wasnt perfect, but it was no worse than the majority of other games.

But some people will carry on their little hate crusades to satisfy a narrative, and miss out on enjoying an excellent game.
Worse still some others will believe this c*** and also miss out.

@trev666 @themightyant
Same for me, as you will see in my above comment.

In fact, I dont know anyone who actually played the game and thought it anything less than enjoyable.

I got Veilguard for a great price about 2 weeks ago and I absolutely love it.
It's far better than I expected, when I bought it.

@Rich33 ...I thought Veilguard was great, too. Some fantastic quests hidden in there, there's actually some GREAT writing in it ( see : Solas ) and some stunning locations.
Most people on here slating it as "Failguard LOLZ" have 1000% haven't played it

@ApostateMage reading your posts on here, I think we have VERY similar taste in games - believe me, Veilguard is a great game. Yes there's SOME questionable dialogue but there's also some fantastic writing in there too - some of the side quests with the cast of characters ( similar to ME2 loyalty missions, are superb, one in particular but I won't spoil it ) the lore of the game is deep and overall I loved it.
Most people slating the game on here have never played it

@AgentMantis...please elaborate. What was 'tortured' about it ?

I tend to ignore obvious hate train dog piling campaigns that seem prevalent these days. They are usually fueled by streamers or websites desperate for views & engagement so they can milk the ad revenues.

As such I went into Veilguard with an open mind and had a fantastic time. Enough that I have done a run through on each class. I am actually kind of sad that we won't see more of this game and that there are no further plans for content.

Worth your time for sure.

@themightyant I mean by process of elimination what else could be bioware's worst performing?

@KingPev I will definitely play it myself sometime and hopefully I do enjoy it but like I say, what I've seen of it so far hasn't inspired me to buy it at its current price just yet. I picked up Andromeda for £6 in a sale which most likely helped me get stuck into it with a more forgiving mindset.

@Nem agreed mostly. Some of the writing felt very Disney but overall it’s a great game that was worth my time and money. Wishing her well in her future endeavours!

Veilguard was immaculately bland. It was perfectly playable, but everything was so uninspired. The jokes were flat. The characters were bland. The story was bland. The combat was fun enough.

I had no real complaints about the 20-30 hours I sunk into it before selling, but I never finished it and haven’t looked back. I’ve since sunk 115 hours into a second playthrough of Inquisition and enjoying it a lot more than first time round.

@KingPev
You are right, there was some very good scripting and VAs, and some that wasnt so good.

But compared to a lot of games I thought the scripting was average to good, and the VA good to very good.

I mean we arent talking GOWR good here, but Ive just started DW Origins, and both scripting and VA are mostly horrible! But I dont see hate crusades against DW Origins!

Most of it was just hateful people or, as someone pointed out above, attention seeking streamers etc.

all these review sites said Veilguard was a return to form for BioWare

@Rich33 That's because Dragon age Origins is the goat, any true fan of the franchise can you tell you that.

@KillerBoy and boy were they wrong

@Oram77
Is it - I either wasnt interested in it enough to buy it, or found it completely forgettable. Inquisition was good enough, but I much preferred Veilguard.

@Rich33 Highest rated game in the franchise on Metacritic (reviewers scores), so they must agree with me. But hey if you prefer DAV more power to you, but I would show more respect to DAO that's all.

@KillerBoy they all got the copy and paste on that particular line right anyway, even if the reviews got it wrong. the media should be ashamed of themselves.

The game is great. Shame about the reception it got.

Bioware vanished after the mess of Mass effect 3s ending that's when it was, they scrambled to get something out to make it up but it was too little too late. Most at that point I think started to slowly leave Inquisition was boring, Anthem was a disaster for what it was (though I enjoyed being the Colossus Javelin a lot). Andromeda was incredibly dull and such a grind the story didn't make a lick of sense and combat was a mess.

This DA was a flop the moment they showed gameplay and trailers last year the trailer got everyone excited but then it just panned itself. I don't expect the best Mass Effect to be any different I doubt I'll be getting it

They always like to say that bad sales and a director leaving is not connected. It's amazing how it's always such a coincidence. The game did not sell well at all and they are cleaning house. Mass Effect is either going to be brilliant but most likely bad. Bioware just doesn't get it and I don't think they ever will. At least some of the people who still understand are working on Exodus.

What a sad, depressing end for a franchise that started with one of the all-time greats, Dragon Age: Origins. Really thought we were in for a decade plus of RPG classics(it was Bioware after all.)

I wish her well. Hopefully she ends up where she needs to be.

The argument here is about Bioware. The Bioware from the past has been long dead, all the leaders that made that studio great left a long time ago. Bioware is just a brand studio.

As someone who got the platinum for Veilguard, it’s a pretty damn fun time, albeit flawed in some areas, but the majority of dialogue and story is actually handled far better than any critic online has made it out to be.

The combat is really damn refined and polished, there’s actually some good choices for a western AAA rpg, and the exploration is top notch.

There’s some cringey dialogue but that’s the same for any Young Adult themed material these days.

It’s no DA Origins, but if you don’t go in expecting it to be, you’ll most likely come away with a positive impression.

I wish the game director well in her new journey (she left BioWare for a new role not because of any failure the game had faced, this is very normal for people who are in such lengthy AAA development).

Some people are sadly already being weird in the comments but it’s the internet in 2025 so it’s gonna happen.

7.5/10 for Veilguard imo, maybe even an 8.

@jedinite SmashJT is not a reliable insider lmao, and his petulant reaction to JeffGrubb on Twitter has just confirmed him being an utter manchild.

I enjoyed the game and I wish Corrine the best for the future. It seems like lots of other players enjoyed the game too which is nice to see. That is what gaming is about, not the weird post covid negativity we now get online.

Maybe she's taking the fall or maybe she's truly leaving on her own accord. Either way, I wish her well and commend her for leading this game to the finish line after what seems to have been a hellish development cycle.

While I think Veilguard is a bad game, I think that was always going to be the case. On such a huge project, one person can't come in to stop a ship from sinking. Dragon Age is a series where every game, including the beloved Origins, is a deeply flawed experience.

What would it have taken to get Veilguard from where it is now to a state where the masses could comfortably agree on it being flawed but good? Probably a massive script re-write, which would involve bringing in voice actors to redo lines, and having to re-animate cutscenes. Gameplay tweaks to keep the game at parity to past titles would have taken more time. All in all, the game could have taken on a few more years of development to possibly ship a better product, but all that is just more money down the drain on what was already clearly a doomed project.

@trev666 I've put 25 hours in... and to be honest, it's not a horrible game... but it's pretty meh; as a game it feels mostly on rails, and the combat gets pretty repetitive and overstays its welcome. Lets just say, I parked the game, and am now playing BG3. I'd like to believe I'll pick it up again, but to be honest - I don't feel interested to play a game to reveal more of a team dynamic that I found dull and kinda cringe.

Having said that the hate for the game online is just laughable... though, there's a large kernal of truth in terms of any writing related to the team's social interactions which are truly some YA crap. The fantasy lore seems solid though. Technically its super solid - and whilst I'm not that keen on the character style, the worlds are beautiful... but I just can't get past everything bling-explosion has MMO DNA splattered all over it.

@themightyant
Played the trial terrible game, not an rpg, not a dragon age, character creator sucks as i have stated for months, rook is a loser DD2 pawn esque character who's only responses are subservient et cetera.

The game director either getting canned or running away Söderlund style proves everything critical that's been said, whenever a game does terrible the Devs either run away/fired and/or the studio gets shut down, happened with dice, rocksteady, firewalk, volition and probably more.

@Lavishturtle bu- bu- but you don't UNDERSTAND!!! it's those dastardly gamers that's why it didn't sell well but once these grifters move on it'll sell like hot cakes i tell you what! 10/10 masterpiece! 🤓

Luv me EA
Luv me microtransactions
Luv me rick and mortE
Luv me tribalism/fanboyism

Ate gamers
Ate truth
Ate indie games
Ate pc

Simple as

@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare thats the thing with the internet a game is either great or trash. when the truth is usually somewhere in between

most games are 7/10s which is fine

@trev666 I think that's a fair call - it's not hot trash, but it's not the greatest either. I suspect a lot of the backlash was because it kept getting 9/10 and 10/10 reviews... it's definitely not that. It's a competent game (in construction - if not direction), but the issue I have with it mostly is that it's too long for what it actually is. If it was an action focused RPG-lite that focused on story and building a team (ala ME) but was over in 20-30hours in total, I don't think people would think it was not a decent game... my experience was that I knew that at the 25 hour mark, I had at least another 30-50hrs before I got to the really good part (beause I'm a slow RPG player). That's not the best feeling when your wading through loot drops, and smashing the 1 millionth crate or barrel looking for loot/crafting resources.

Edit - the other issue is, the game seriously doesn't know what it wanted to be. And I'm pretty sure most DragonAge fans knew what it wasn't (ie something they expected and/or wanted). Games can change up the concept (and DA has done that all along) - but generally, it's not a great idea to use MMO-loot-grinding-mechanics from MP games as a design language... which is what they did. It may be successful at growing a younger audience... but I don't think they're going to be playing DA if I'm being honest.

@KingPev it had been in development for 10 years, essentially rebooted twice during that time. EA and bioware couldn't really agree on the direction of the game and the franchise as a whole. As development time increased, and following Anthem landing with a thud, Bioware was downsized and lost a lot of it's talent. The series lead writer fled and was then critical of the teams culture and EA's hostility towards the narrative team in general. Many assumed VG, or Dreadwolf as it was called at the time, would end up as vaporware and would bring Bioware down, which the less than stellar sales could still do. While I'm not making any comments on the quality of the game, the fact they even managed to get a title out of the door was an achievement.

@Smackosynthesis Most reviews from main stream gaming media are paid. It'll legal because its seen as paid advertising by publishers.

Not surprising at all, it's not the worst game I've played but mediocre in every way.
I think if it had been released a few years after inquisition it would have been viewed more favorably but the fact this is the best they could come up with after 10 years of development makes it even more disappointing.

I'm enjoying Veilguard a lot. The biggest problem is the beginning is very very slow, and low stakes. Once your recruit the Warden and start unlocking the major party member side missions the game really gets on a roll. The Dragon Age lore, and everything Solas does in particular is fantastic.

@wildcat_kickz Agree there re; Andromeda. I thought the writing in Andromeda was subpar when compared to the original ME, but it wasn't outright bad. Gameplay was great.

Played ME:A for 80 hours and rolled the credits, sold the disc of DA:V after 15 hours of tedium.