None of this is to say BioWare can't make good multiplayer games. It's a classic-style western RPG that emphasizes making choices, developing characters and letting players build their own heroes. Gamers don't come to the series to play with each other, they do it to explore the setting, learn its history and fight some dragons along the way. That focus on narrative is what earned those fans to begin with, and they've been eagerly awaiting the next chapter of that story since Trespasser's twist ending. Those awaiting more multiplayer content are very much in the minority. Related: The Highs and Lows of Electronic Arts' Focus on Games as a Serviceĭragon Age has never been a multiplayer franchise.

However, if they really want these titles to be successful, the best thing they can do is stop interfering with them. BioWare isn't over yet, and EA letting them refocus Dragon Age 4 as a single-player game is a charitable move. From Origin Systems to Pandemic Studios to Mythic Entertainment, EA has a long history of acquiring companies, turning them into something they're not, then finally closing the studio down when its new games disappoint. To fans of other developers consumed by the publishing giant, this probably isn't surprising. While those plans were canceled, the fact that they existed at all betrays a shocking lack of understanding about who developer BioWare is as a company and what its audience expects.

EA is no exception, as can be evidenced from its original plan to turn Dragon Age 4into a live service multiplayer game. Live services are gaming's answer to the cinematic universe, in that everyone wants to have one but only a handful have worked well.

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