Patch 5 for Dragon Age: The Veilguard is available to download now on PS5, weighing in at around 500MB. But it's actually BioWare's patch-accompanying comments that are the big talking point here, as it suggests that support for the action RPG is already coming to an end.
Those who have been playing The Veilguard since its launch in October of last year will know that major updates have been few and far between. Outside of several quality of life improvements and stability fixes — alongside the introduction of some cool Mass Effect-themed armour — each patch has barely been worth covering in any detail.
And now, as mentioned, BioWare has this to say: "Thank you all for playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard; we were so happy with the game’s stability at launch and hope you have enjoyed our Quality of Life patches since then. With the game being in a stable place, we are moving to monitor for any game-breaking bugs should those occur."
Now, we don't know about you, but that's worded like game-breaking bugs are the only things left on the agenda, should they suddenly appear after Patch 5. Fans who have been hoping for New Game+, additional cosmetic options, or adjustments to the game's flawed PS5 Pro functionality, may be out of luck.
Given that BioWare ruled out any DLC as soon as The Veilguard released, we half expected there to be a few significant updates down the line — but that's looking like a pipedream at this point.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Patch 5 Patch Notes
Quality of Life Changes:
- Recommended levels have been added to side quests that players may receive at significantly lower levels.
Bug Fixes:
- Fixed an issue where Rook could only flirt with Lucanis in a specific conversation.
- Fixed an issue with the Regrets of The Dread Wolf quest not triggering properly or stopping Rook with an invisible wall in the Crossroads.
- Fixed a blocking issue with a puzzle in the Converged City area of the Crossroads.
- Fixed an issue with the “Imperium’s Resolve” armor causing negative damage instead of the intended zero fire, cold, necrotic, and electric damage.
- Fixed excessive clipping on Taash’s “Rivain’s Legacy” armor.
- Fixed an issue that prevented some Rooks from changing the runes on their lyrium dagger.
- Fixed an issue with the Medium Armor Mastery skill for Warriors.
- Fixed a spot on Rivain’s beach where Rook could get stuck in a cycle of drowning, never to be pulled out of the water by their companions.
- Fixed a typo on a note Rook can find in Dock Town.
- Fixed an issue that caused photo mode screenshots to be noticeably worse quality when HDR was turned to “On.”
- Fixed an issue that was causing the photo mode screenshot location to still be shown on screen.
- Fixed an issue that caused the fireflies in the opening area of the Crossroads to flicker at an alarming rate on specific settings.
- Fixed a lighting issue in one of the conversations with the whole team in the Lighthouse.
- Fixed an issue in the Mirror of Transformation that blocked players from zooming in and out with the mouse scroll wheel.
- Fixed an issue where the Objective Marker Visibility was not updated when the exploration preset was changed with the other options in the Exploration sub-category.
- Some adjustments to the game credits.
We're not necessarily saying that the game's commercial performance has lead to BioWare cutting its losses, but it's hard not to speculate following EA's most recent financial briefing.
The publisher revealed that The Veilguard has "engaged" 1.5 million players, which was 50% below EA's expectations. Not good.
Did you expect more in the way of support for Dragon Age: The Veilguard? Let it go in the comments section below.
[source ea.com]
Comments 79
After three months, 1.5 million "engaged" players are a pathetic number for a franchise as popular as Dragon Age. Astrobot sold 1.5 million copies in a shorter period and significantly less development costs.
If I remember correctly, Team Asobi has around 60 employees.
The studio behind DAV is a team of 250-300 people and the budget must've been at least four times higher than the development costs of a game like Astrobot.
No matter how you look at it, this ain't good.
Why is this news? The game was pretty polished at launch and there isn't DLC. Why would it need to be patched more?
Frankly seems like Clickbait to capitalise on the hate.
@themightyant We can't win, can we?
Post anything positive about this game and we're called shills.
Post anything negative and it's "clickbait".
There are literally patch notes in this article, and words from BioWare itself.
@PorkChopExpress oh stop it. If game would be successfull then there would be DLC. If that would not be expected they wouldnt be mentioning that in first place. It is EA game, you have to monetize games more than smaller companies do due to costs maintaining large teams.
Man makes you wonder how much longer bioware will be around. Seem like they haven't had a win in a decade.
@Paleblood curious to see how big it dragon age budget was. Has to be over 200 million so it probably lost a ton of money.
This is what happens when the #1 priority of your game is not to offend ANYBODY. The companions are bland, they're all white knights and I don't care a lick about any of them. A little variety would have been nice...
@ShogunRok Keep doing your thing I'd say, Dragon age Veil guard has got people, dare I say coping.
@themightyant For someone who doesn't have a "horse in this race", you sure do like commenting on anything Dragon age 😉
What’s flawed about the PS5 Pro version.
It’s runs ok at 60fps and a bit sharper than the PS5 version. Or is mine different.
Also videos showed this on other websites.
Didn’t expect a massive upgrade for just a patch.
Maybe make a Dragon Age game next time.
Listen just give the people what they want from Dragon Age. Just simple ports upgrading graphics and framerate for Origins and 2 to ps4/5. Could care less on this one one
As I've said elsewhere, any game that brags about something other than it's gameplay before release is a major red flag. The game part of your game is what I'm here for, sorry about that.
@OldGamer999 The Pro support is great for the most part but it's got weird resolution issues and the PSSR is poorly implemented when it comes to detailed objects that are affected by physics, like hair.
The hope was that BioWare would smooth things out a bit more, but seems unlikely now.
I want to finish this game because I've been invested in the story since Origins, but the writing and characters are just so piss poor in this game that it's hard to find the motivation.
After spending about 10-20 hours, I just don't care about any of the characters.
What a disappointment.
@ShogunRok You're right. My bad. You can't win.
It's just really sad to see ANY game get pulled through the coals like this by the hate brigade who have decided it has to be attacked at every opportunity in their Culture War. The amount of toxic negativity around certain games is worse than ever and any article just gives a platform for that to spread. It felt like it started with TLOU2, but has only gotten worse of late. Very sad to see.
@Oram77 I don't, but I will always push back against any game getting an unreasonable amount of hate, like this one, especially when people are demonstrably making up statements with no facts involved just to put something down. Veilguard may not be the best game, and may not be for you, or maybe even me, but it doesn't deserve the extreme amount of vitriol it is getting.
I could tell something was wrong with this game when they put it on 40% discount less than two months after release. That's not a good sign.
@themightyant Yeah, I get where you're coming from — it's frustrating when you like something but feel as though it's never been given a chance because of maddening online discourse.
From my perspective, as someone who likes The Veilguard but can totally understand why others dislike it, it's the general lack of nuanced discussion that gets me down.
I'm not expecting every comment on every forum and social media post to be an in-depth novel, but the dogpiling leaves absolutely no room for reasonable thought.
The game was trash before it even came out. Not surprised about this. No one I know is playing this. Let's hope that Avowed doesn't follow in it's footsteps or it will have the same fate.
I finished it recently , thought it was great ,really enjoyed it , the ending was epic , it looked great , good music and sound , some fantastic side quests , I realy don't understand the hate for it , people have missed out on a good game , because some guy on youtube told them too, its all rather sad.
@ShogunRok there's a weird shimmer on some objects , mainly floors I've noticed , other than it it looks fantastic
@ShogunRok The irony is I haven't even played Veilguard. I don't have skin in the game. I might like it, I might not, if/when I get around to it. But it's nowhere near top of my list. I liked DA:O a lot but thought each subsequent game has been progressively worse.
But it's just not right seeing any game get dogpiled on in this way. I shouldn't rise to it, as it only fans the flames. But then I have a very low tolerance for BS, and when I see someone flagrantly making up statements that are easily disproved I will call it out.
As you said lack of nuanced discourse is disappointing. A game can be good in some ways and bad in others and leave different people feeling different things. That SHOULD lead to interesting discussion. But discourse feels like Metacritic where only a 0 or 10 will do accompanied by a lot of flag waving. Sad to see.
As for comments that are in-depth novels.... now I feel personally attacked
I only started Veilguard last week, so I guess the timing is pretty good, but I'm a little wary of the very defeatist vibe that I'm getting from a lot of the discourse surrounding the game's reception (both critically and sales-wise).
I think it was pretty polished at launch, Bioware want ME5 to be pushed through now so this was never going to get DLC.
As a game I enjoyed it, but it's not worth the full retail price and it was not a surprise it dropped twice in price in two separate PSN sales before the end of the year.
This didn't happen do no spoilers but I stand by my idea that Rook should have been killed halfway through and your Inquisitor brought in. The team dynamic would shift and some characters would actively dislike the change.
We didn't get much infighting or dark turns etc and Rook was essentially a therapist for some parts of the game. Origins was great, Inquisition was ok (apart from certain parts), and Veilguard is good but lacks enough twists to make it really memorable. People like character development, even if said character becomes dislikeable. We didn't get enough of that imo.
Yes very sad....... ANYWAY
Shame about no new game+. I'm quite interested in trying a different class and background
@Andee my tip is to not get too bogged down at the start. The story really begins to open up when you get all of the companions.
@ShogunRok
And 10 minutes after your well put comment (#21) you get another one, directly underneath your comment! Oh dear...
I will say it is hard when people are unfairly criticising something you like (or something that doesnt deserve it), based on false 'facts' or narratives / agendas it is very hard not to just retaliate!
And, @themightyant - he may be talking about a novel I wrote explaining what I like and criticisms I have on this game, on another thread today, not just your novels! lol
I really like this game, and I had not encountered one bug before the update in more than 50 hours of play. Post update, objective markers are not working like they are supposed to. I can find where I need to go looking at the map, but the way is not marked for me like it was before.
Not game breaking or anything, but it is annoying.
I just finished veilgaurd and was quite happy overall. I dont think we need any more content with this one. Its polished and feels complete.
Im a bit saddened by the lower than expected sales, but such is the way these days.
@ThomasHL Oh absolutely — I learned my lesson from DAI and its infamous Hinterlands — right now I'm just enjoying being absorbed in Thedas again and meeting all these new characters (I have 4/7 — just had to make a pretty big decision last night and now I'm paying for it... 😔 )
@themightyant
It is an indication that the devs are somewhat prematurely done with the game.
You chose to be negative (in the sense you are trying to spread the idea of skipping it) about Kingdom Come II because they're establishing a road map and belief in the caretaking of their newest title, yet you are also critical of the opposite being newsworthy.
If you played it and thought that it was a thorough and all-inclusive experience, you could try communicating that.
@Runex2121 I'm a little in two minds about DLC when it comes to expansive RPGs such as this. On the one hand it's nice to be able to return to the world again (if it's something as big as Awakening or Trespasser - although with both of those examples I played the main game after the DLC had already released), but on the other hand it's nice to have closure and be able to put a game to rest.
Game was poor compared to its previous releases. Stopped playing after 5-10 hours as I was bored
@ShogunRok
Yes correct I remember now it spoilt the nice hair from the game or it went more like a clump not strands.
Forgot that, but overall it seemed ok to me.
@EfYI Eh? I'm excited for KCD2, but i'll wait for the complete version as I don't like coming back for DLC months later. How is that negative? And what relevance to this post?
As for the rest, I’m assuming you are responding after reading my first comment before reading any others. I was wrong to call it clickbait.
I enjoyed the game overall apart from some of the writing, but I don't think it needs any additional DLC as they previously hinted. The story was tied up nicely and the lack of MTX was a good thing in this game. I can imagine most of the team are supporting other studios until the next Mass Effect is fully up and running.
@Paleblood Exactly and a much shorter development time for Astro as well, plus Astro is still charting okay in the sales charts, meaning it has some legs while Veilguard's sales have collapsed already.
bioware is being kept on life support for the moment so that EA doesn't have another PR disaster on its hands. its one of the last "good will" studios it has left. the latest DA is a financial disaster for EA without question and perhaps its not even EA's fault this time? a sales expectation of a paltry 3m should have been met which tells me that the market voted and this franchise has simply run its course. should EA go all in on sports games, bioware will likely become a support studio.
@Americansamurai1 Given the game's lengthy development time, it's probably well above 200 million.
@Paleblood yeah plus with marketing costs, EA probably lost over 100,000,000 easily.
@MrMagic I wouldn't be surprised if Astro continues to have decent sales for many more years. Veilguard is as good as dead. I'm not sure how much longer Bioware can survive.
Im enjoying the game. Yea the writing isn't groundbreaking but it's hardly offensive imo. The combat is great imo even if it is a massive departure to previous installments. I've settled into Bellara and Neve for combat and I'm good. Maybe if EA would have let them make a single player game in the first place it could have recouped some of its cost.
Even dragon age 2 got story dlc, this game my lord what a mess!
Oh no, anyway. Maybe make a dragon age game next time
@N7Vakarian I'm already dreading the next Mass Effect
@themightyant how you feel about this game is how I feel about Forspoken.
@Porco it was being developed as a live service title for the first several years before EA told them to abandon that, salvage what you can and make a single player game. This game would have probably needed to sell 5 million or more to break even
@Americansamurai1 no-ones fault but their own...
@Trapdoor very true
@Rich33 Surely the hate for the most part is because of a narrative/agenda pushed so sloppily upon the player? IMHO it felt like a Disney writer had been let lose on the project In other words a once beloved franchise neutered till very little of the fun of the originals remains. I doubt it's even a dislike of LGBT issues for most just it wasn't subtle. They should learn from Baldurs Gate 3 or the Life Is Strange series; have diversity but let it be part of the story.
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@Trapdoor
Including diversity as a matter of normal story / world state is probably the ideal.
I particularly liked how Hogwarts Legacy handled the Sirona character and quests.
I also think where romance options are available (which are often very limited) the ideal is where every romanceable character can be romanced by either sex, and no classification of their sexuality as bi is needed - this way the game can be played how you like, and it helps avoid some of the horrific stereotyping we have seen (eg Cyberpunk).
I have never played BG3, and only played one of the life is strange games - the one with the brothers - but I wouldnt use that as a good example, at all, considering how poorly executed / limited / tame the male choice was compared to the female choice in the chapter at the camp.
That said, I dont think DAV pushed a narrative / agenda at all. They obviously wanted to include the Taash storyline, but that doesnt make it an agenda.
It is fair to say that some of the scripting was off at times though, and its also fair to say the style may not appeal to everyone. I enjoyed the story overall - that doesnt mean it was perfect all the time though.
In fact I would also say it can also be argued that Taash is not written very well, often appearing childish or dismissive and aggressive, and though some of it is trying to show someone going through a difficult time, it often doesnt hit the mark quite right. But again, this is not pushing an agenda, just difficulty by the writer.
However, on the other side of things, the way that the 'push up' scene was pushed by some as being 'indicative' of the games content was clearly driven by a negative agenda - Im not saying it was a good scene, im saying it was 1 scene in literally thousands, that got used time and time again to 'prove' an agenda. I have played the whole game and that scene was not 'indicative" of anything.
The heightened importance given by some to scripting in a game when 'reviewing' or 'commenting' on it, is also fairly suspect given how bad even AAA game scripting is routinely.
Finally, wishing the game/studio to fail - something you will see time and again - is clearly driven by a negative and hateful agenda - If the issue is that you dont think the game is good, or you dont think its a good DA game, fine, but no real fan of games wants a studio to shut! Not to mention how self defeating that is, as no Bioware = no DA games in the future.
that's why I love stardew valley so much
Hate to say it but I think this is the nail....
BioWare use to be the best!. I can't even count the hours I put into Balders Gate or Mass Effect and even the original DA. But Bio Were of now well all one has to do is look at the last 3 games they have released.
The studio is definitely on life support.
@Nyne11Tyme that happened twice actually, development started as a single player game and then in 2018 or so EA said scrap it, start over and make it live service. Then later, after the success of Fallen Order I believe, they scrapped it again and this time said make it single player...
Tried the game just could not get into it. BioWare is a has been and I will from here on avoid their rubbish. Problem is things like Baldurs Gate 3 has spoilt me with story and characters and I expect all things to be at that level.
It really sucks if they don't patch in some sort of new game+. At least the nug like inquisition had for the cosmetics to carry over.
Some more save slots would be appreciated too.
The game is great and i love it but these constrictions are baffling.
A blood splatter toggle would be cool too, but i don't hard need it. It would just be nice.
Gottal lol at people here saying "oh no there is no dlc". The game is complete. Doesn't need dlc. Every game should be like this.
@REALAIS EA doesn't do dlc for their single player games since at least 10 years ago
The game runs super on my Series X, no problems.
I thought that after the game released we'd finally get to stop seeing articles about this game. Please let's just forget this game exists like we do with Andromeda.
@themightyant
You are asking how you are coming off as negative!?!?
I had to take five minutes and wonder how you put on shoes with that level of comprehension.
You write, and I quote:
I can't be the only one that sees a DLC roadmap and immediately thinks "I'll wait"... which often translates to "I'll forget about it and never come back"
That is being negative of a good thing. That is trying to spread the idea not to support the studio. Besides, as you SAW with DAV people need to support day one to have a positive narrative surrounding the game and happy publishers that don't complain about missed expectations.
Hardly surprising considering how poorly this game sold.
I must admit personally I find articles around sales of games kinda meh as it never sways my impression versus a review, but I get why it’s being brought up considering the discourse around the title. I just hope resources that would have been used for DLC will get funnelled into making ME5 the best it can be.
Also there would 100% have been a post-release plan for DLC etc, every other DA title got it so why would this one be different? From everything I saw the poor storyline and even the average script really hurt the game (DEI is a whole other matter) and I personally dislike the change in character design to semi-dreamworks cartoon style. Again hopefully BioWare learns and does better on ME5.
@OthmaneAD Sims 4 would disagree with you.
Why does Dragon Age Inquisiton received DLC?
ME Andromeda has two non story DLC you probably dont count it.
NFS games has some DLC
EA WRC is getting DLC's
But in general, they do not make good SP games. Star wars was okay. Aveum flopped, and Veilguard flopped aswell. Yesh sold over 1 million copies, but that is flop for big company and investment to create game
@ShogunRok While I find some articles clickbait-y myself. I do very much enjoy articles about updates! I wouldn’t have known about the recent Stellar Blade or Sparking ZERO! updates if not for that. Game updates I feel are important articles.
@EfYI I think you can be excited for a game but not like the business model it is being delivered under. Many of us don’t want to come back to play story DLC months later. It’s not simply positive or negative it’s nuanced.
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And then there's Larian still dropping new content and updates to Baldur's Gate 3 two years later. The difference is night and day
I bought the game on sale and played the beginning and so far so good! The graphics are top notch and I’ve never seen such luscious hair in a game! The combat from what I’ve seen is also really good
If it's a functional and complete game, I don't see a problem.
“A return to form for BioWare!”
@KoopaTheGamer compare it to Baldur's Gate then. And dont give me the "not every" excuse. Larian and the shell of Bioware are leagues apart in many different categories.
I really enjoyed the game and wish it had done better. Yeah, it wasn't as in-depth as Origins and Rook came across as fairly bland, but it was a good story at just the right length and had solid combat and a likeable cast.
@JohntheRaptor Don't get me wrong, Larian is doing excellent job and their game deserves all the praise it gets. But if a single player game has a satisfying conclusion and isn't a buggy mess, then it doesn't necessarily need content updates.
@CypherUK So did metaphor (drop in price during the end of the year) and it's touted as a success winning rpg of the year and selling 2m copies.
Like... the contrast between the narratives fkr these two games success are insane for what is a 500k sales difference.😅
While I really loved the game's world, gameplay and Story but there are a lot of stuff I hated in it especially the romance in this game was undercooked compared to previous entries. I don't know why they did it this way but it's barely memorable.
That being said I really enjoyed my 97 hours in it and it was my first Platinum to get on PS5 Pro.
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@Netret0120 Its slow starting for sure, but by the end i was enjoying it as much as my favorite DA game.(inquisition)
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