Summary

  • Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be free to claim through PS Plus Essential in March.
  • EA will give the game away to subscribers just four months after its launch.
  • The studio has admitted the game underperformed, selling half of what EA expected during its launch window.

It's no secret at this point that EA isn't happy with how many people played Dragon Age: The Veilguard at launch. Things might be worse than we thought though as PlayStation has revealed the games it will be giving away to PS Plus Essential subscribers in March, and the latest Dragon Age game is one of them.

PlayStation revealed which titles will be free to claim for Essential subscribers from March 4, 2025, via a new post on the PlayStation Blog. Three games, as is usually the case, with Sonic Colors: Ultimate and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowbunga Collection the usual fare making up two-thirds of March's offerings. However, it's the third game, The Veilguard, that's the headline grabber.

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For those unfamiliar with the current PS Plus structure, which is probably still quite a lot of people even two years on from its restructure, Essential is the cheapest tier of the subscription service. The tier that doesn't grant access to Extra and Premium's libraries, but allows you to play online and bags you a few free games every month, although you can only continue to play them while your subscription is active.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Will Be Free To Claim Through PS Plus Essential In March

Another Sign That EA Isn't Happy With Its Sales Numbers

Most Essential games are titles that have been out for a couple of years or longer, with a few exceptions like Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Stray, and Animal Well launching on the service day one. The Veilguard obviously doesn't fall into either of those categories and its appearance as a free-to-claim game through Essential so soon after its rocky launch suggests EA is desperate to get people playing it, even if it means giving it away.

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EA revealed during its latest financials that 1.5 million people had played The Veilguard. That's half of the three million copies sold during its launch window that the publisher was expecting. It seems the fourth Dragon Age game underwent a turbulent development period that began with EA requesting it include live service elements, scrapping that idea midway through, and then seemingly pointing to a lack of live service for being the reason it underperformed.

BioWare has laid off developers since The Veilguard's release which paints a worrying picture for the series' future. Some fans believe that it might not have a future with one BioWare writer saying Dragon Age belongs to the fans now. Hopefully giving The Veilguard away with PS Plus will give the game a boost and inject new life into it, although without people paying for the privilege, that might not be enough to convince EA to keep the series alive.

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard

RPG Systems 4.0/5 69 5.9/10 OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 80/100 Critics Rec: 71% Released October 31, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence Developer(s) BioWare Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Engine Frostbite
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