EA and BioWare had advertised the online shooter Anthem as a “game for 10 years”. Anthem was released in February 2019. Just in time for its second birthday, in February 2021, the game is now dead. Our author Schuhmann says: Actually, it died half a year after release.
This is how Anthem was announced: In the development phase, Anthem was codenamed “Dylan” – like the folk singer Bob Dylan, Anthem was supposed to remain relevant for a long time, preferably “forever”.
In 2017, it was said about Anthem: That it was a “game for 10 years.” This was not said by just anyone, but by an important EA manager, Patrick Söderlund. As Executive Vice President, he was then leading the game development of all titles by Electronic Arts:
Anthem is a social game where you and your friends can go on quests and adventures. It is a game that we have been working on for almost 4 years and one that will be released next year. I think it will be the start of a 10-year journey for us.
Patrick Söderlund, then Vice President at EA
With this statement, EA clearly sought to compare with Destiny: The major loot shooter series by Bungie was also announced for 10 years. And Anthem had been in development since 2012 – it was going to be a really big game.
First trailers looked strong.
Even though Anthem was later postponed from 2018 to 2019: The atmosphere before the launch was still joyful. After all, Anthem was the first major sci-fi game by BioWare in years; they had made a big name with Mass Effect.
Anthem shows potential at launch but is criticized as “unfinished”
This was the situation at release: When Anthem was released, anticipation for the game was enormous. A demo shortly before launch had fueled the excitement for Anthem and crashed EA’s servers.
The game was clearly intended as “the blockbuster in spring 2019,” but was released to only mediocre reviews. Major gaming sites rated the game between 60% and 70%. The game was criticized as “unfinished.” It had good ideas, but it lacked execution. There was too little story, it was too grindy, said the industry press. It was at best half a good game.
At Meta-Critic, the game only scored 59%.
But BioWare fought back. They presented a large roadmap. Already one month after release, in March 2019, important new developments were supposed to come, the world of Anthem was supposed to change. Above all, the “Cataclysm,” an epic event, raised fans’ hopes that Anthem would still become a really good game.
Meta-Critic gives Anthem 59% – MeinMMO readers rate it 72%
Especially MMO players, our site’s readers, found Anthem significantly better than the classic single-player fans: They praised especially the gameplay loop of flying, shooting, and looting. For many MMO players, grind is not something they fear, but seek.
In a survey by MeinMMO, 4,280 users participated. They rated Anthem at 72%.
That was the big break: In April 2019, the initial euphoria for Anthem had slowly faded. People were waiting for patches and for BioWare to address the game’s issues: The loot was not enjoyable, the endgame was practically non-existent, the progression systems were off, and there was simply too little to do.
But already in April 2019, two months after release, a major insider report about the development of Anthem was published. It became clear:
- BioWare had completely lost its way over the years due to a lack of clear vision for Anthem and a strong leadership
- During the development, there were several changes in direction and many developers had left the studio – some with burnout
- BioWare struggled with EA’s mandate that everyone had to use the Frostbite engine – it was not designed for RPGs, they complained.
- The game was actually only completed in the last months, when a producer joined the team and focused everything on “Let’s finish it.”
Even after the insider report, it was clear: Anthem had barely been finished by launch. Much more content was not to be expected.
Hopes faded.
The team behind Anthem dissolves
This was added on top of Anthem: Shortly after the insider report, in May 2019, it became officially clear:
- The core team that developed Anthem, BioWare Edmonton, was now working on Dragon Age 4 and only a small team in Austin, Texas, was supposed to take over the further development of Anthem. They had previously handled the “Star Wars” MMORPG.
The people from BioWare reassured fans in May 2019: This changes nothing. The team is still fully behind Anthem.
The tragic part: The people who were supposed to lead the reboot left BioWare in 2019.
- Producer Ben Irving presented the game at E3 2019, but disappeared in August.
- The head of the live service team, Chad Robertson left BioWare after 14 years in October 2019.
Anthem runs out of air just six months after release
This is how it actually went in the game: The Cataclysm, which many players were looking forward to, simply did not arrive. Only months after release, in August 2019, a major update went live with 15 GB.
But this was still ages away from the release. In the initial phase of Anthem, practically nothing happened.
Instead, players disappointedly found that there were many problems in Anthem’s endgame:
- There were too few dungeons in the game
- The item system did not work at all
- It was not fun to develop the character and collect loot
Anthem ran out of air shortly after release.
The end of active gameplay came in September 2019: At that time, BioWare pulled back its roadmap and no longer wanted to talk about the future of the game. From then on, just half a year after release, Anthem was as good as dead.
Rework gives fans great hope
This was the hope: In November 2019, there was finally a sign of hope. The same insider who had written the devastating report on the development of Anthem said: BioWare was working on a rework of the game.
In February 2020, this was also made official: A small team of 30 employees in Austin, Texas, was working on Anthem Next, an Anthem 2.0.
For a year, the team released small blog posts and pictures, showing how they were working from home on the new project. Allegedly with great enthusiasm, a great team, and a lot of community support.
The live Anthem on the servers had just turned one year old and was no longer being significantly developed.
This is how that hope died: A year after the introduction of Anthem 2.0, the team announced that the project would be discontinued. Anthem would no longer be developed.
The team stated that they wanted to focus on the development of Mass Effect and Dragon Age. They regret how it all turned out.
This is what the insider said this time: Anthem 2.0 had been in the “incubation phase” for a year by then. EA had to decide in February 2021:
- whether to believe in Anthem Next and triple the team to 100 developers
- or whether to pull the plug and completely discontinue Anthem.
EA has evidently chosen the end of Anthem.
6 reasons that led to Anthem’s demise
What went wrong with Anthem? A lot of things come together:
BioWare apparently completely underestimated the development of such a game – the studio seemed not even to be in the condition to develop such a game. A lot must have gone wrong in the development. Most importantly, BioWare apparently lacked a shared vision for the game for years.
The plan for the game’s ongoing development was a disaster from the outset: When the main team moves on and a “small live” team is supposed to take over, you can’t promise a game for “10 years.”
A big problem was apparently time pressure: Anthem had to be released in February 2019 to salvage EA’s financial year – but the game was in no release condition. Games like Anthem actually need to be “100% finished” upon release, and the studio must have already prepared DLCs. But Anthem was barely ready for release.
Then EA apparently also lost interest in Anthem because the shooter Apex Legends suddenly filled the role that Anthem was supposed to fulfill: Apex Legends functioned as a free-to-play title much better than the premium game Anthem and fulfilled the role of a “games-as-a-service” title.
From day one, it was completely unclear how EA wanted to make money from Anthem. There was only a sparse cash shop; they did not want to charge money for DLCs.
And the idea of making an Anthem 2.0 that was not seen for a year and developed past the live game proved to be problematic.
This is what makes the end of Anthem so bitter: What many hurt is that Anthem truly had the “core” of a good game. The gameplay was strong, the world interesting, the production quality was high.
The lesson from Anthem is that an MMO absolutely needs a solid plan for development after release.
Other MMOs started with the same problems as Anthem. The Elder Scrolls Online also had a terrible endgame in 2014 and was in a deep crisis. But ESO worked on addressing those issues from day one. In Anthem, the main team seemed to be on vacation from day one, preparing for Dragon Age 4, while a “live service team” was supposed to glue Anthem’s shards together.
That’s not how you make a “game for 10 years,” EA should have never advertised it that way. A lesson they have now learned the hard way.
Even though the development of Anthem was officially discontinued only after 2 years, BioWare had already given up on the live version of the game after 6 months. While the servers of Anthem will remain open, the game is now in a sort of maintenance mode. Such a shame for the potential that was lost here.
How players of Anthem reacted to the end of the game can be read here:
So players reacted to the end of Anthem: “The most unnecessary 70 € of my life”
