Multiplat Dragon Age: The Veilguard

[Fury]

Don't care how you see me.

If you would post a short clip that'd contribute to the conversation about Veilguard, even from a personality I don't like, I'd watch it.

I wouldn't not watch it, and make a post bitching about you posting the clip I didn't watch.

Oh my....I don't watch any streamers so I'll have to pass.

I'll tell you what though, I'll keep posting my impressions of actually playing the game.

I know that's nearly as cool for you as posting another person talking but maybe some people will like that.

Also, my point of view of finding him more annoying than poorly written scenes is a perfectly valid one but if you hadn't responded to it, I'd have forgotten that I even made that post.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Oh my....I don't watch any streamers so I'll have to pass.

'Oh my...'

I'll tell you what though, I'll keep posting my impressions of actually playing the game.

I'll tell you what though, that's one of the purposes for games having their own threads.

Must be a shocker for you to learn that.

I know that's nearly as cool for you as posting another person talking but maybe some people will like that.

Which implies you don't ever like posts that contain other person talking.

Also, my point of view of finding him more annoying than poorly written scenes is a perfectly valid one but if you hadn't responded to it, I'd have forgotten that I even made that post.

Apparently your posts are so forgettable even you forget you posted them within hours of posting.

That's impressive levels of forgetfulness.

 

[Fury]

'Oh my...'

I'll tell you what though, that's one of the purposes for games having their own threads.

Must be a shocker for you to learn that.


Which implies you don't ever like posts that contain other person talking.


Apparently your posts are so forgettable even you forget you posted them within hours of posting.

That's impressive levels of forgetfulness.

Just.... Want you to know.... You're.... adorable

Never change

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Just.... Want you to know.... You're.... adorable

Never change

 

[GearSolidMetal]

@14:50 - 16:00

This is 1980s "Drugs are bad" after-school-special levels of pure cringe.

 

[Madmick]

The official story -



The unofficial story -

I wouldn't leap to be too bearish on this. The real tell is in retention and in-game spending, which I think will take a hit, based on my own exposure to the game, because I was oblivious to all the woke stuff until after it launched, and I do believe it hurts games. Still, even the reviewers who hesitate to praise its story do praise its mechanics, and that is usually what keeps players engaged, and retention healthy. As far as EA breaking it's all-time record on Steam, that barely means anything, because they didn't even start launching their games on Steam until June 2020. Here they all are:

• EA Sports College Football 25
• Dead Space
• EA Sports FC 24
• Madden NFL 24
• NHL 24
• EA Sports PGA Tour
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Super Mega Baseball 4
• The Sims 4: For Rent
• EA Sports UFC 5
• GRID Legends
• Need for Speed Unbound
• Battlefield 2042
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition
• Project CARS GO
• Bejeweled Champions
• Dirt 5
• Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
• Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond

So basically it outshined Jedi Survivor and Battlefield 2042. Nothing else there where you'd expect a major splash. Star Wars Survivor had a slightly lower concurrent player peak at launch, but it was one of two games that drove EA's revenues in late 2023. Those revenues reached all-time highs, but profit was barely in the green for the year because costs were so high. It had a $200 million development budget which is lower than believed for Dragon Age. Also, Dragon Age has perhaps a stronger franchise base on PC, respectively (the first game hit #1 on Steam's sales chart).

One thing is clear. EA is in the red in 2024 so far. If this doesn't turn that around...I suspect EA will tamp down on the political coloring. This could explain the machine being in overdrive attempting to manufacture a success, here.

 

[Fury]

I wouldn't leap to be too bearish on this. The real tell is in retention and in-game spending, which I think will take a hit, based on my own exposure to the game, because I was oblivious to all the woke stuff until after it launched, and I do believe it hurts games. Still, even the reviewers who hesitate to praise its story do praise its mechanics, and that is usually what keeps players engaged, and retention healthy. As far as EA breaking it's all-time record on Steam, that barely means, because they didn't even start launching their games on Steam until June 2020. Here they all are:

• EA Sports College Football 25
• Dead Space
• EA Sports FC 24
• Madden NFL 24
• NHL 24
• EA Sports PGA Tour
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Super Mega Baseball 4
• The Sims 4: For Rent
• EA Sports UFC 5
• GRID Legends
• Need for Speed Unbound
• Battlefield 2042
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition
• Project CARS GO
• Bejeweled Champions
• Dirt 5
• Command & Conquer Remastered Collection
• Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond

So basically it outshined Jedi Survivor and Battlefield 2042. Nothing else there where you'd expect a major splash. Star Wars Survivor had a slightly lower concurrent player peak at launch, but it was one of two games that drove EA's revenues in late 2023. Those revenues reached all-time highs, but profit was barely in the green for the year because costs were so high. It had a $200 million development budget which is lower than believed for Dragon Age. Also, Dragon Age has perhaps a stronger franchise base on PC, respectively (the first game hit #1 on Steam's sales chart).

One thing is clear. EA is in the red in 2024 so far. If this doesn't turn that around...I suspect EA will tamp down on the political coloring. This could explain the machine being in overdrive attempting to manufacture a success, here.

If dragon age doesn't make a shit ton of money.... Next mass effect will lose money, devs and time

That said, they'll turn down the politics when it's not trendy

 

[sanguinius]

For those who are asking "Is it woke?"

View attachment 1069648

Look at the tags used to classify the game on Steam by EA/Bioware.

And believe it or not, I respect them for actually doing that. Wish that could be done with physical releases putting 'DEI & LGBTQ+' on the game box.

Bet most would figure using those tags would harbor games sales, and they're probably correct, but EA/Bioware did it anyway. Respect to them for not trying to deceive their customer base in that respect.

You don’t need the tags. You can tell by the ugly characters and cringe dialogue. Here’s hoping for another monumental failure so that companies might finally learn that catering to they/thems on Twitter isn’t the ideal business model.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

You don’t need the tags. You can tell by the ugly characters and cringe dialogue. Here’s hoping for another monumental failure so that companies might finally learn that catering to they/thems on Twitter isn’t the ideal business model.

We'll see if a major-budget Triple-A game will sell enough to make profit, or be hailed as a success, with a targeted audience of the LGBTQ community.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

If dragon age doesn't make a shit ton of money.... Next mass effect will lose money, devs and time

After a 9-year development cycle and it being Bioware's main focus since Anthem's launch in Feb.2019, if it's a financial failure.... well EA has a horrible habit of closing studios after games lose them money.

That's not a prediction, just saying its happened many times in the past.

I'd say their saving grace may be Mass Effect, if EA's Execs see their development and like what they see.

 

[Fury]

After a 9-year development cycle and it being Bioware's main focus since Anthem's launch in Feb.2019, if it's a financial failure.... well EA has a horrible habit of closing studios after games lose them money.

That's not a prediction, just saying its happened many times in the past.

I'd say their saving grace may be Mass Effect, if EA's Execs see their development and like what they see.

Don't put it past them to shit can Bioware and have someone else finish it.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Don't put it past them to shit can Bioware and have someone else finish it.

Can't recall any instances of EA shitcanning a studio but handing off the project to another studio.

Usually when a studio is shittcanned, so is all projects they were developing.

Not saying its not possible.
Not saying it hasn't happened before.
I'd saying its rare & EA has never done it.... at least recently (within 5 to 10 years).

 

[Fury]

I just think about it they think it makes financial sense, they'll do it.

The mass effect name still has draw though

 

[deadshot138]

Game is being universally panned by anyone with a brain stem. Such a fall from grace.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I just think about it they think it makes financial sense, they'll do it.

That's obvious.

But they thought a new Dragon Age a decade after the last one, which sold 12 million units, would be a guaranteed hit.

How many copies did Mass Effect sell? — 2025 statistics | LEVVVEL

Dive into our Mass Effect statistics. Uncover its commercial success, sales milestones, and the lasting legacy iconic series has carved in the gaming industry.

levvvel.com

• The original Mass Effect sold 2 million copies.
• Mass Effect 2 sold 5 million copies.
• Mass Effect 3 sold 7 million copies.
• Mass Effect Andromeda sold 5 million copies.
• Mass Effect legendary Edition was also a success and sold better than EA had expected.
• The $92.3 million that the Mass Effect franchise is worth is regarding total sales of games as well as other media and merchandise, but even without that, the series has still raked in a tremendous amount of profit.

These stats lead me to think EA closing Bioware would be a surprising move, but there's guaranteed to be more publisher input and restrictive funding if they continue its Mass Effect 5 development.

It'll be make or break for the studio. Guaranteed.

 

[Fury]

That's obvious.

But they thought a new Dragon Age a decade after the last one, which sold 12 million units, would be a guaranteed hit.

How many copies did Mass Effect sell? — 2025 statistics | LEVVVEL

Dive into our Mass Effect statistics. Uncover its commercial success, sales milestones, and the lasting legacy iconic series has carved in the gaming industry.

levvvel.com

• The original Mass Effect sold 2 million copies.
• Mass Effect 2 sold 5 million copies.
• Mass Effect 3 sold 7 million copies.
• Mass Effect Andromeda sold 5 million copies.
• Mass Effect legendary Edition was also a success and sold better than EA had expected.
• The $92.3 million that the Mass Effect franchise is worth is regarding total sales of games as well as other media and merchandise, but even without that, the series has still raked in a tremendous amount of profit.

These stats lead me to think EA closing Bioware would be a surprising move, but there's guaranteed to be more publisher input and restrictive funding if they continue its Mass Effect 5 development.

It'll be make or break for the studio. Guaranteed.

I think it'll sell well, it's just whether EA thinks it's enough return on investment. Is it a game they need to hit 10 million on?

 

[GearSolidMetal]

"911?

Yes, I'd like to report a rape."

 

[GearSolidMetal]

 

[GearSolidMetal]

 

[Madmick]

View attachment 1069704

For the record, FYI, you can find all of these figures at the SteamDB. Notice you can compare two games using the plus sign icon. You can then align their release dates to see how a game's playerbase retention compares to a past release. It will be a few weeks before Veilguard has been out long enough for there to be enough data for a more meaningful comparison:

https://steamdb.info/charts/

The third-party Steam Charts also scrapes this info and archives all of it:

Steam Charts - Tracking What's Played

An ongoing analysis of Steam's player numbers, seeing what's been played the most.

steamcharts.com

Steam also maintains a Steam Charts section where you can get a better idea of trends during recent historical date ranges (i.e. by year, month, etc) and which games will probably show up on the Steam "Best Of" end-of-the-year chart:

Steam Charts

Top selling and top played games across Steam

store.steampowered.com