Shout out to the single player squad.
According to sources that wish to remain anonymous, EA has decided to backtrack on the multiplayer elements they wanted included in the next Dragon Age game.
Initially, this as-yet-untitled Dragon age entry was being designed with heavy multiplayer elements. But according to these sources, EA has made the decision to walk back that decision after a recent multiplayer dud.
This decision mostly comes down to the performance of roughly two games: the single player Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Bioware’s Anthem. Jedi: Fallen Order showed them that single payer games can still be incredibly profitable (even without an assload of DLC), while Anthem taught them that not every game concept works well when its relentlessly multiplayer and jerking off the player’s wallet for every cent it can extract. Moreover, that some of their studios are better off making these single player games, rather than being forced to add multiplayer to a game that really wasn’t designed for it (like, oh, I don’t know, Bioware before EA bought them). This is a lesson that stands in stark contrast to their previous way of thinking.
This upcoming Dragon Age game has been in development since 2015, but in 2017, EA pushed for the game to be rebooted with long-term monetization and multiplayer in mind, coincidentally leading to the departure of Mark Laidlaw from the company.
EA has made no public comments on this news.
Source: Bloomberg
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