YouTuber WolfheartFPS reports that at least three streamers and YouTubers that were critical of Dragon Age: The Veilguard during an initial playtest have not been given review codes for the full game.

A screenshot from Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024), BioWare

WolfheartFPS reported on X, “3 creators myself included, were a bit more critical than others with our hands-on time with Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Not a single one of us will be getting a review code with time to actually give opinions before release. Just thought I would throw that out there.”

In a subsequent post, he added, “Please keep in mind folks that this does not mean that my more critical opinion is better or more truthful than those who have been more positive. I’m just simply pointing out how marketing works. This also doesn’t mean the game will be bad, but it is something to consider.”

He also pushed back in response to YouTuber Kala Elizabeth noting that individuals who gave positive reviews did not get review copies as well. She wrote, “There were also people who were very positive and were also at the event who didn’t get review copies also. I definitely think you guys should have been given codes, but I just want to point out it wasn’t only people being more critical who weren’t given codes.”

WolfheartFPS responded, “I understand that and I did my research on this before posting. The point is more so that everyone I know of who was critical did not get a code, with 2 of us being HEAVILY involved in the party-based RPG scene. It’s just not a good look. It is however a good look on the investor side of the equation though.”

WolfheartFPS on X

In his video titled “Mixed Impressions After Playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard Early…”, WolfheartFPS concluded at the end, “Overall, initial impressions wise, this game is pulling me in so many different directions and it leaves me very conflicted. But as a fan of the franchise as a whole and as someone who’s already gone through the mourning period that the DA franchise would head more towards the CRPG direction or more towards the deep complex RPG direction, I guess, I could say, I do find myself still excited to jump back into it on release.”

“With that said, I just can’t confidently say to you all though as my audience that, yeah, this is a definite buy. My guess is that this game will, unfortunately, continue to be quite divisive, but I could be wrong,” he added.

He also shared, “For myself, the potential story and the world building is a powerful enough force to the DA franchise that I’ll be playing it no matter what and there are certainly some cool things that I talked about in the video. but I don’t really see any world where this could be like my game of the year or anything like that. A few of the negatives that I mentioned in the video, they just feel a little too impactful for what I personally value in games, specifically RPGs.”

What do you make of WolfheartFPS’ claim that BioWare refused to provide review copies to creators who were critical of the game after the initial play test?