Dragon Age: The Veilguardcomes outtomorrow, but the reviews are unambiguous:this is a fantastic RPG.
The game has earned a lot of praise for its plot, characters, and creative approach to combat.
Whereas there is no surprise about BioWare putting out a great bona fide RPG title (if you pretendMass EffectAndromedaandDragon Age Inquisitionwere a fever dream), something almost unheard of in the games industry has transpired.
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A bigpublisher CEO has declared a game a success before sales numberscame in.
The comments are part of a financial results report conference published for Q2 2024, featuring Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson and various investors.
During the conversation, Wilson emphasized thatBioWare “has rallied around what made BioWare a fan-favorite studio,“singling out the studio’s talent for putting out akiller comboof immersive worlds,deep charactersthat mesh well with each other, and strong storytelling.
A key part of this was all about giving the studio time to cook up a game in its terms. In 2019, BioWare tried to shake things up by releasing a live-action shooter in the shape ofAnthem.
The game was a disappointment across the board, and many fans felt it had wasted years of valuable development time that could have been invested in the RPGs that BioWare does so well.
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The faith and patience from the publisher seem to have paid off. Thus far, Dragon Age: The Veilguard has earned an 82/100 average scoreaccording to OpenCritic.
Among these are a rare 5/5 rating from Eurogamer, and a more nuanced but equally impressive 8.5/10 at DualShockers.
Never Trust A CEO
Of course, CEO comments during an investor call are hardly the most unbiased or reliable sources.
Earlier this year, the major players behind the development ofConcordwaxed lyrical about its unambiguous success.This was right before the company took the game offline, and followed up byclosing down the studioas a whole.
Even with a healthy layer of skepticism, though, there is something genuine about Andrew Wilson’s comments here.
Dragon Age: The Veilguardwill be the first time in half a decade that BioWare was left alone to do what they do best: deep, large-scale RPGs that take you to faraway lands.
In the end, it all comes down to sales, but it would be a shock ifDragon Age: The Veilguarddid not perform well there.
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