Dragon Age: The Veilguard seems to have been a major disappointment. Despite solid reviews and encouraging day-one player counts, the RPG has failed to live up to its predecessors, whether it be in commercial performance or fanfare.

While there are multiple reasons for the lack of excitement around Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the director seems to believe that one key reason is a hate campaign from a vocal part of the gaming community.

Why it matters: Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been lambasted for featuring excessive diversity and inclusivity. This focus, according to many gamers, has done more harm than good to the RPG.

Speaking to Inverse, Corinne Busche, the director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, addressed the recent criticisms of BioWare’s latest release. She discussed the recent Metacritic review bombing and discourse on social media, claiming that these events can be attributed to today’s polarizing times.

As per the director, diversity and inclusivity are inherently important to games. She also states that eliminating this focus would result in less relatable games, which is exactly why the team focused on exploring characters and their identities.

According to Corinne Busche, Dragon Age’s progressive nature meant that the tagline for the latest entry became: Be who you want to be. However, the team may have pushed too far in one direction, leading to significant backlash.

I think the discourse we see is the result of highly polarized times.

-Corinne Busche

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Has Quickly Fallen Off Everyone’s Radars
Dragon Age: The Veilguard has yet to receive an official sales update from EA or BioWare in the two months the game has been out. The RPG has reportedly sold a million units, but this is unlikely to be enough to justify the costs of today’s AAA productions.