With under two weeks until Dragon Age: The Veilguard releases, reports claim that the game isn’t tracking very well in terms of pre-orders and reception. BioWare’s latest RPG has received mixed feedback following its reveal earlier this year. Many fans have criticized its watered-down approach and “cartoon” art style. BioWare has also been skimping on direct-feed gameplay raising concerns over how much “RPG” this game has in it.
One report that has leaked online says that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has failed to reach 2000 pre-orders across an 800+ video game store chain. This total covers both the Standard Edition and Gold Edition versions of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The store in question hasn’t been named but given it has 800+ outlets, it is likely an American store that stocks video games and allows for pre-orders.
Low pre-orders are usually common for a game but closer to launch, they pick up. Hands-on previews also help drive these pre-orders, however, there haven’t been many of these on Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
One could argue that digital sales have been higher which has resulted in low retail traction, but keep in mind that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has remained quite low on the Steam Top Sellers list. The game has been in the 50+ rank and only recently nudged down to 46. It is the 27th most wish-listed upcoming game on Steam but that doesn’t mean users have pre-ordered the game yet.
EA has also done very little to market Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The game has almost no online presence and many media outlets and channels outside of the US have had no opportunity to share original hands-on or developer content.
It is still too early to tell how Dragon Age: The Veilguard will perform at launch. Fans are likely waiting for reviews to drop later this month before pulling the trigger. Of course, the online sentiment is divided across those who believe the game’s open gender choices are to blame for poor reception and fans who aren’t sold on the new linear approach.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is out on 31 October for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. We recently covered the game’s launch times, PC system requirements and PS5 Pro enhancements here.
Source: X
