BioWare has reportedly earned the privilege of removing all multiplayer components from the next installment of its critically acclaimed fantasy RPG series, Dragon Age. The rumor stems from a report published by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, whose sources suggest that EA had forced the developer to design the game with long-term monetization in mind. EA purportedly reversed course after having a sudden epiphany regarding the sales potential of single-player titles and witnessing how BioWare’s first attempt at a major online multiplayer game, Anthem, failed spectacularly.
“The diverging trajectories of two recent games changed the minds of Wilson and other executives at EA,” Schreier explained. “One was Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a single-player game released in November 2019 that won critical acclaim and outperformed EA’s sales expectations, reaching more than 10 million players in its first four months.”
“The second was BioWare’s Anthem, a multiplayer game that was widely panned when it launched. The games showed that single-player games could still be lucrative and that BioWare, traditionally known for its single-player, role-playing games, might be better off returning to its roots. A spokesman for EA declined to comment.”
Now that Dragon Age 4’s multiplayer requirements have vanished, BioWare will presumably be able to return to its roots and develop an installment that lives up to the original Dragon Age: Origins, which is still considered by many to be the best in the series thanks to its memorable characters and tactical combat system. The news also suggests that BioWare will have an easier time developing its next installment of Mass Effect.