(https://aftermath.site/dragon-age-the-veilguard-electronic-arts-sales-layoffs)

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In news that will shock absolutely nobody, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier says that Veilguard began life as a singleplayer RPG, was then transformed into an online multiplayer title once EA's leadership saw the kind of money games like Destiny were making (despite Bioware already working on Anthem!) and then, when Anthem tanked, it became a singleplayer RPG once more.

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Compounding the game's woes were internal politics between the Dragon Age and Mass Effect teams (the latter were brought on to assist in the final months), strict limitations placed on the singleplayer game's structure because of its multiplayer roots and some emergency rewrites that led to huge tonal inconsistencies throughout the game.
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(https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-11/inside-the-dragon-age-debacle-that-gutted-ea-s-bioware-studio?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc0OTY0ODYyOCwiZXhwIjoxNzUwMjUzNDI4LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTWFAxSUZUMVVNMFcwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.0D0urTjRUJqH0oOP38TpvlX4HOdjPQ-V_tc8l2kNFWg) (gift link to the paywalled Bloomberg article)

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In theory, the reversion back to Dragon Age’s tried-and-true, single-player format should have been welcome news inside BioWare. But there was a catch. Typically, this kind of pivot would be coupled with a reset and a period of pre-production allowing the designers to formulate a new vision for the game. Instead, the team was asked to change the game’s fundamental structure and recast the entire story on the fly, according to people familiar with the new marching orders. They were given a year and a half to finish and told to aim for as wide a market as possible.
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