Dragon Age: The Veilguard has already been hit with some rather sizable sales that while great for purchasers, could be a bad sign for the future of the franchise. At this point, The Veilguard hasn’t even been out for a full two months. As such, most AAA games that are this new still tend to retail for the full price that they released at. For Dragon Age: The Veilguard, though, this hasn’t been true for a couple of weeks now, which would suggest that Electronic Arts is quickly trying to recoup its investment on the title in lieu of struggling sales.
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At the time of this writing, Dragon Age: The Veilguard has received some substantial price cuts across different marketplaces bringing the game to $39.99 or lower. While some of these deals are merely part of various holiday sales that are happening to close out 2024, others seem to simply be new price points for The Veilguard that may stick around in perpetuity. Since early December, many retailers have been selling the newest Dragon Age game for $49.99 across PS5 and Xbox, which is a major discount to push out barely four weeks after its release.
While those interested in buying Dragon Age: The Veilguard surely don’t mind this lower cost, we typically only see quick price cuts like this for games that aren’t performing well. As such, the implication here is that The Veilguard is struggling to sell at a large quantity at its standard $69.99 value, which has prompted EA to slash its value by a considerable amount in an attempt to move more units. Whether or not this strategy will work isn’t yet known, but it’s still a bad sign for a game that’s so new.
The reason that the performance of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is worth monitoring is because of BioWare’s previous releases. Prior to The Veilguard, BioWare released Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, both of which didn’t reach expectations commercially and critically. Because of these past failures, more stress was placed on BioWare to deliver a high-quality product with Dragon Age: The Veilguard. And while The Veilguard was largely met with a positive response from critics, the sales don’t seem to have done what EA wants to this point.
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Moving forward, it will be interesting to see what those in charge at EA opt to do with BioWare if the studio fails to meet commercial expectations for its third game in a row. While it’s unlikely to do anything drastic just yet, EA has shut down some of its other studios in the past for far less. Much of BioWare’s future seemed to hinge around how Dragon Age: The Veilguard would do at market, and if it’s ultimately a commercial failure, it will place even more pressure on the upcoming Mass Effect 5.
