The action MMO Anthem is currently receiving some flak on Twitter: BioWare has not yet removed the Christmas decorations from the game in February. However, active players are defending BioWare against the criticism.
This is the reason for the tweet: GamesRadar editor Sam Loverdige shared a picture of the Christmas decorations in Anthem on Twitter. He wrote: “I wanted to check back into Anthem. The fact that the Christmas decorations are still up feels even sadder.”
The tweet has received a lot of attention. The Christmas decorations in February are seen as proof that EA has somewhat given up on Anthem.
As IKEA teaches us, Christmas trees and decorations must be removed by January 13th, St. Knut’s Day, at the latest. If someone takes down their Christmas decorations only on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, they have apparently lost control over their life.
It’s a gag to imply that people leave their Christmas decorations up far into January or February because they can’t find the time or motivation to put them away.
Anthem is taking some heat:
- the game has failed
- the maintenance of the game is unmotivated
- why should players care about Anthem if the developers don’t even care?
- Anthem is mocked as a wannabe “Destiny killer”
Active players defend Anthem
Why is it still up? It’s a bit unfair to accuse Anthem of forgetting it. The Christmas decorations are part of the “Icetide” event that started in Anthem in December 2019. Since BioWare apparently had no additional content ready for early 2020, the team decided to extend the event into February.
So it’s not that BioWare simply forgot about Anthem; it was a conscious decision to keep the event running longer so that players could still earn rewards. Some players even wished for this.
So it’s not that BioWare simply forgot about Anthem; it was a decision to keep the event running longer so that players could still earn rewards.
Active Anthem players are also responding: the event only lasts 3 more days, and that’s okay.
What’s next for Anthem? Officially, nothing is known. The original plans for new content were scrapped in September 2019 without replacement.
All we know is that BioWare is planning significant overhauls for Anthem and does not want to discuss them until they are firm. BioWare apparently feels that now only actions can help, and words won’t matter anymore.
According to an insider report, BioWare is working on a kind of “rework” for Anthem, which should then be resurrected as Anthem 2.0 or Anthem Next.
However, since there are still no visible signs of this, and Anthem is also being omitted in EA’s financial reports, the game will likely continue to receive some ridicule.
