Dragon Age The Veilguard Reviews Controversy

Overview

Dragon Age The Veilguard Reviews Controversy refers to an online controversy in which video game developer BioWare and its publisher EA allegedly restricted review code copies for some gaming journalists and content creators who were purportedly more likely to be critical than others during their hands-on time with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which releases on October 31st, 2024. The allegations became a viral topic on X / Twitter and other sites as the reviews of the RPG were largely positive from media outlets, with some praising the game as a whole, while others criticized various details of the story, writing, characters and gameplay mechanics. Additionally, some also targeted the writing and other aspects of the game they perceived as "woke" and "diversity, equity and inclusion" (DEI) content as the controversy unfolded in the days leading up to Veilguard's release.

Background

On October 25th, 2024, RPG content creator and X / Twitter user @WolfheartFPS^[1] tweeted that he and two other creators, who also had received early hands-on access to play BioWare's Dragon Age: The Veilguard, were supposedly not given "a review code with time to actually give opinions before release." The tweet (seen below) amassed more than 527,000 views and 1,700 likes in four days.

The creator also replied to a follower in the same post mentioning another gaming journalist who also purportedly didn't receive a review code, even though they had posted positive comments about the game. @WolfheartFPS wrote that "Some positive creators didn't get codes but ALL 'critical' creators (that I know of) did not." The post (seen below) received roughly 130 likes in four days.

Developments

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reviews

Reviews for Dragon Age: The Veilguard started to appear on October 28th, 2024, as IGN^[2] reviewer Leana Hafer gave it a 9/10 score, writing, "If we never get another Dragon Age, at least it got to go out on a high note with Dragon Age: The Veilguard." The review video (seen below) amassed more than 298,000 views, 6,100 likes and 6,600 comments in a day. Using the Return YouTube Dislike extension in a browser, the YouTube video notably received more than 42,000 dislikes in the same timeframe, though the number is an estimate and not exact.

Additionally, under the comment section of IGN's YouTube^[2] review for Veilguard, many of the top-voted comments from users criticized IGN and the review, as well as the game (examples seen below),

Skill Up's^[7] Dragon Age: The Veilguard's review written by gaming journalist Austin B, titled "I do not recommend: 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard' (Review)," generated notable online buzz after it was published to their YouTube channel on October 28th (seen below), amassing over 1 million views, 68,000 likes and 19,000 comments in a day.

On the same day, the YouTube^[9] channel of Fextralife posted a video justifying why they aren't doing a Dragon Age: The Veilguard review, alleging EA tried to manipulate review scores by favoring those who'd likely give a higher grade for the game. The video (seen below) also sourced other creators waiting for the review code, which amassed more than 511,000 views, 39,000 likes and 6,000 comments in a day.

As of October 29th, 2024, Dragon Age: The Veilguard holds a "Generally Favorable" 84/100 score on Metacritic^[3] based on 51 critic reviews.

Online Reactions

Following the emergence of initial reviews in late October 2024, some netizens and fans of the franchise shared their lack of trust and suspicions related to the accuracy of the game's review from gaming journalists, with some also alleging the game is too "woke" and was written by "DEI" writers among those with complaints about non-political aspects of the RPG.

For example, on October 28th, 2024, X^[4] user @BadGhostTv shared some screenshots from IGN's Dragon Age: The Veilguard's review video, writing that the game "is the most obvious virtue signal that any dei hacks could possibly force in to a game." The tweet (seen below) amassed roughly 310 likes and 20 reposts in a day.

On the same day, X^[5] user @nib95_reminded people that LGBTQ+ dialogue has been present in other games of the franchise, as the user shared a clip from the 2014 Dragon Age Inquisition. The video (seen below) amassed more than 306,000 views and 3,300 likes in a day.

Redditors also commented on the reviews controversy surrounding DATV, as Redditor AboveSkies^[6] made a post about Bloomberg Reporter Jason Schreier and other gaming journalists that were policing what other publications were allowed to say in their Dragon Age: The Veilguard review articles by purportedly editing their reviews following backlash. The post (seen below) amassed more than 550 upvotes and 80 comments in a day.

On October 29th, 2024, YouTuber^[8] @EndymionTv uploaded a video alleging that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a "Woke Disaster & The End of BioWare." The video (seen below) amassed roughly 38,000 views and 5,600 likes in a few hours.

Search Interest

External References