Big News: Former BioWare exec Mark Darrah says the team working on the new Mass Effect game should ‘scapegoat Veilguard as much as they need to to get what they need’

Former BioWare Exec Mark Darrah Says the Team Working on the New Mass Effect Game Should ‘Scapegoat Veilguard as Much as They Need to to Get What They Need’

Darrah, who spent over two decades at BioWare before departing in 2020, isn’t mincing words about the current state of affairs. His suggestion that the team should “scapegoat Veilguard as much as they need to” isn’t just corporate strategy—it’s survival tactics in the brutal world of AAA game development.

The former executive producer, who worked on multiple Dragon Age titles and knows the inner workings of BioWare better than most, understands the harsh reality of modern game development. When a project underperforms or faces criticism, smart developers use that failure as leverage. It’s not pretty, but it’s effective.

Why Throwing Veilguard Under the Bus Makes Perfect Sense

Look, nobody wants to see a game fail, but Veilguard’s reception has been… let’s call it “mixed” to be diplomatic. The community response ranged from lukewarm to downright hostile, and that kind of reception creates an opportunity for other projects within the same studio. It’s cold, calculated, and absolutely necessary in today’s gaming landscape.

Darrah’s advice isn’t born from malice—it’s born from experience. He’s seen how EA operates, witnessed the corporate machinery that determines which projects get funding and which get the axe. When executives are looking for someone to blame and budgets to cut, having a convenient scapegoat can mean the difference between your project thriving or dying a slow, underfunded death.

The franchise carries significantly more weight than Dragon Age in terms of brand recognition and sales potential. Commander Shepard’s adventures sold over 14 million copies across the original trilogy, while Dragon Age has always been the slightly awkward younger sibling in BioWare’s family. From a purely business perspective, protecting Mass Effect at Veilguard’s expense makes total sense.

The Corporate Game Within the Game

Here’s where things get really interesting—and frustrating for anyone who actually cares about good games. Darrah’s suggestion reveals the ugly truth about how major publishers operate. It’s not just about making great games anymore; it’s about navigating corporate politics, managing expectations, and playing the blame game when things go sideways.

Former BioWare exec Mark Darrah says the team working on the new Mass Effect game should ‘scapegoat Veilguard as much as they need to to get what they need’ because he understands that in EA’s world, perception often matters more than reality. If the Mass Effect team can convince the suits that they’ve learned from Veilguard’s mistakes—whether real or perceived—they’re more likely to secure the resources, time, and creative freedom they need.

What This Means for Mass Effect’s Future

The cynical part of me wants to applaud Darrah’s brutal honesty, while the gamer in me feels sick about the whole situation. This is what AAA development has become: a political chess match where good games sometimes succeed despite the system, not because of it.

But here’s the thing—if scapegoating Veilguard means the team gets more development time, a bigger budget, and fewer corporate mandates, then maybe we’ll actually get the game we deserve. The franchise has been through enough disappointment (looking at you, Andromeda), and fans have suffered long enough.

Darrah’s advice might sound harsh, but it’s the kind of real-talk the industry needs more of. He’s not sugar-coating the corporate reality or pretending that the gaming industry operates on pure artistic merit. Sometimes you have to play dirty to make something clean.

The next game faces enormous pressure to redeem BioWare’s reputation and prove that the studio can still deliver the epic, choice-driven RPGs that made them famous. If throwing Veilguard under the corporate bus helps achieve that goal, then perhaps it’s a necessary sacrifice in the bigger picture.

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