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.