"According to former BioWare lead Mark Darrah, 'Veilguard' is a compilation of four games. Darrah suggests that the project might have been more prudent to terminate completely around 2017."
Mark Darrah, the former BioWare producer, has opened up about the reasons behind the failed development of the highly anticipated game "The Veilguard" (previously known as Dreadwolf). In an interview with MrMattyPlays, Darrah shared his insights on the project's challenges.
Darrah believes that the game's development faltered primarily due to its fragmented nature, as it was essentially "four games stitched together," leading to a confused and inconsistent identity that players could easily see, making the overall project feel disjointed [1]. This issue arose from its origins as a live service game, which was later shifted towards a single-player experience, leaving remnants of the live-service design still embedded in the game during development [1][2].
Another critical factor Darrah highlights is the absence of clear leadership for a significant period, as the project ran "without an executive producer" for a while, contributing to its accumulating issues [1].
The project should have been shut down completely around 2017 when Darrah left to work on Anthem, especially because EA was prioritizing Anthem over Dragon Age at the time. Darrah sees this as a missed opportunity that could have prevented continuing the troubled development of The Veilguard [1].
According to Darrah, EA's games tend to improve when a studio is focusing on making those games and only those games. This suggests that the misaligned priorities with EA also played a role in The Veilguard's development struggles [1].
Darrah, who has a history with games that traces back to his first World of Warcraft subscription at age 12, further emphasized that The Veilguard was heavily influenced by the Marvel universe, drawing from the zeitgeist of the Marvel universe to shape its tone [1][2]. The trailer for The Veilguard was considered more appealing in 2020 than it would have been in 2024, according to Darrah, due to its brighter, quippier tone, which was reminiscent of Thor: Ragnarok, released in 2017, two years after The Veilguard started development [1].
Harvey Randall, a writer with a history of working with various gaming websites, including PC Gamer, has also been associated with The Veilguard. Randall, who plays a variety of tabletop RPGs in his offline time and has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and indie titles, has not commented on the development struggles of the game [1].
Despite the setbacks, Darrah suggests that if EA had not continued development on The Veilguard after Anthem, there might not be a Dragon Age 4. This underscores the significant impact The Veilguard's development had on the future of the Dragon Age series [1]. Darrah refers to The Veilguard as a "zombie" project, reflecting the challenges it faced during its development [1].
In conclusion, the development of The Veilguard faced numerous obstacles, including a confused identity, lack of clear leadership, misaligned priorities with EA, and the lingering influence of its live-service origins. These factors combined resulted in the project's eventual failure, as explained by Mark Darrah in his interview with MrMattyPlays [1][2].
- Mark Darrah, discussing the failed development of "The Veilguard," attributed the project's fragmented nature as the primary cause, stating that it essentially felt like "four games stitched together."
- The absence of clear leadership was another critical issue, as the project ran without an executive producer for a prolonged period.
- Darrah believes that EA should have shut down The Veilguard around 2017, when he left to work on Anthem, as EA was prioritizing Anthem over Dragon Age at the time.
- Darrah notes that EA's games tend to thrive when a studio focuses solely on making those games, suggesting that misaligned priorities played a role in The Veilguard's development struggles.
- The tone of The Veilguard was heavily influenced by the Marvel universe and was considered more appealing in 2020 than it would have been in 2024, resembling the tone of Thor: Ragnarok, released in 2017.
- Harvey Randall, a writer with an affinity for various RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and indie titles, has been associated with The Veilguard's development but has not yet commented on its challenges.
