But ... behind the scenes, there must have been a moment for at least some people in the company (maybe not the toxic positivity hugbox of Bioware, but within EA somewhere) who realized "Shit ... we really fucked up with this game and people are going to hate it." They knew what they had, and they knew what people wanted, and we know because they did their best to chop and cobble together what they had to make it look like that's what they were delivering. Hell, Bioware devs were even gaslighting people they'd gathered to their preview talking shit about the trailer.
This is just my guess:
People in EA probably didn't pay much attention. They'd have no special insight to recognize whether what people are saying online is significant or not. The few exceptions would at most ask some questions to be reassured, and then move on.
Those in key decision making positions in Bioware most likely had an imaginary "modern audience" in mind that they had formed into a coherent delusion with their group-think over several years. They had likely already heard all the reasons why the game may not succeed and had ready-made answers to refute them. They would have reacted differently to the trailer's response, some disbelieving it's negative at all, some thinking it didn't matter, and a few suspecting disaster. Overall no general agreement on facts other than a need to push back against the response with some PR. As a group they'd likely double down on their shared delusion, which they probably called their "vision" or something in corporate speak. Some of these probably think their game would have been a success if it hadn't been "review bombed by chuds". They are probably angry and looking for someone else to blame.
Enough regular employees in Bioware likely knew it was going to flop for a while, but had no say in the company's direction and probably risked antagonizing higher-ups if they said anything. The online reaction to the trailer would be confirmation for them, but they still wouldn't talk about it openly, except with a few passive-aggressive remarks here and there. You'd find the many competent and resentful employees here.
And then you'd have the regular employees who actually thought the game would be a hit because the management told them so. These are probably experts on particular technical aspects of AAA game development like coding some very specific part of the engine, designing 3d environments, or prototyping character art. They'd have no understanding of what makes a good game overall and are probably now disappointed that their hard work was ruined by bad leadership choices.
