BioWare Announces it Will Radically Redesign, Fix Anthem

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Anthem-Feature

When Anthem launched concluding yr, information technology was with a whimper, not a blindside. The title was generally panned on release, thank you to a mishmash of bad decisions: Poor loot, limited endgame play, and a clashing structure that felt like 2 different genres shoehorned into the same product as opposed to a blend of their best features, Anthem has struggled since launch. BioWare has emphasized for the past yr that information technology wouldn't but carelessness the title — but it apparently plans a much more substantial overhaul than it had previously committed to.

In a web log post published on Monday, February 10, BioWare General Managing director Casey Hudson posted the post-obit:

Nosotros accept also heard your feedback that Anthem needs a more satisfying loot feel, amend long-term progression and a more than fulfilling finish game. Then we recognize that there's withal more than fundamental work to be done to bring out the full potential of the feel, and it will require a more substantial reinvention than an update or expansion. Over the coming months we volition be focusing on a longer-term redesign of the feel, specifically working to reinvent the core gameplay loop with clear goals, motivating challenges and progression with meaningful rewards – while preserving the fun of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting. And to do that properly we'll exist doing something we'd like to have done more of the first fourth dimension around – giving a focused team the time to examination and iterate, focusing on gameplay first.

In the meantime, we volition proceed to run the electric current version of Canticle, merely motility away from full seasons as the team works towards the future of Anthem. We'll go along the game going with events, store refreshes, and revisiting past seasonal and cataclysm content – starting with our anniversary towards the end of the month.

I think it'south interesting to run across BioWare committing to rebuilding Anthem in this manner because we seem to be seeing more than evidence that studios are willing to brand this kind of commitment to a product. No Homo's Sky is 1 of the most hitting examples of this trend, just it's not the just one: Fortnite, Rainbow Vi Siege, The Division, and Final Fantasy XIV are all fairly recent games that launched in ane status and are in a very unlike state today. Of course, what many of these games have in mutual is an online or multiplayer component that allowed them to be treated like communities (with the long-running player bases that implies) rather than being single-actor focused. And so again, No Man'southward Heaven is something of an exception in that location too. While that game is a multiplayer championship now, it very much wasn't when information technology launched in 2016.

Anthem

I'd like to include Fallout 76 on this list, but I'm honestly not sure it qualifies. Bethesda deserves full credit for sticking with the game rather than abandoning it at launch, just the developer can't seem to quit making unforced errors. Delaying a content patch for six months considering yous desire to ameliorate it is the right movement, but introducing aggressive new monetization efforts that paywall massive game-affecting bonuses behind a subscription model? That takes a lot of chutzpah. And then… maybe we requite FO76 half credit for now (because Bethesda admittedly has stuck around and invested in the game) and revisit the question later on the title gets its commencement content update.

Equally for Anthem, I'd love to run across the game rereleased with a better mix of gameplay and storytelling. Anthem is a title I kept an eye on but ultimately opted against purchasing based on the review criticism it got. I picked up No Man's Sky for Christmas because it had finally been updated plenty to seem like a title I might savor rather than a half-baked experience with far better launch trailers than gameplay. I oasis't gotten to play equally much as I planned, but the new game features, quests, and exploration are a far cry from what existed 3.5 years agone. I'k always pleased to see a developer invest in a game rather than killing information technology, and I hope Canticle nails its relaunch the second time effectually.

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