There is really no getting around the fact that BioWare is in dire straits at the moment, now at the end of a decade of three missed opportunities

The Veilguard might have sold more copies and made more money for EA if it had been a live-service game, the publisher's top brass appear to have suggested. Speaking to investors last night following the release of EA's latest quarterly results,

Every writer credited as being a part of the main writing team on Dragon Age: The Veilguard no longer appears to be working at BioWare, with a number of departures at various points in the past having been added to by the studio's latest restructuring.

I think there is a game where you could combine the more action-based moment-to-moment combat with a great deal more tactical depth. There’s no reason a pause-play option couldn’t exist alongside the flashier melee and magic.

In a lot of ways, The Veilguard feels like a soft reboot for the series: Fewer returning characters than in Dragon Age 2 or Inquisition, minimal choices carried over, and a fresh cast in a new corner of the world. This was a bet on attracting new players, with an assumption that series fans would still be along for the ride.

According to IGN, "a number" of BioWare developers have been placed by EA into other equivalent roles within the company. Howeer, a smaller number of Dragon Age staff members are also seeing their positions shelved, and are being offered time to apply to other roles within the company (if they so wish).

BioWare is reportedly now down to fewer than 100 employees after a round of layoffs and staff exits following the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and a restructure to focus on the next Mass Effect game.