Anthem was the hope of MMO fans for a good loot shooter in 2019. The dream has quickly burst. But instead of abandoning the game, EA and BioWare apparently want to save it. The question is: Why actually?
This is the situation: In February 2019, Anthem was released with a lot of fanfare. The sci-fi shooter, where everyone is Iron Man, was supposed to bring new content for 10 years, it was said. It quickly became clear that Anthem suffered from persistent issues that BioWare could not simply patch away.
Anthem was apparently finished at the last minute and serious flaws had settled in its DNA: A loot game without good loot and without a strong progression system can look great and offer cool gameplay, but ultimately it won’t retain players. BioWare realized this quickly.
The content supply for Anthem collapsed after a few weeks. The original team planned to withdraw from Anthem in May and a second team took over. This team had previously worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic, a successful but slowly phasing out MMORPG from 2011.
BioWare and EA said they wanted to continue developing Anthem, but there was silence for half a year. Last week came the realization that BioWare is indeed continuing to work on Anthem and plans a major “reinvention”.
Mass Effect is abandoned, but Anthem is being saved
Why this is unusual: It is at least somewhat surprising that this announcement really came. Because in 2017, BioWare and EA were in almost the same situation. At that time, “Mass Effect: Andromeda” was released. Some liked Andromeda, including our author Cortyn, but ultimately Andromeda was too unsuccessful to be saved.
Meanwhile, “Mass Effect” was actually a large, established brand, while Anthem is still new.
It would have been quite reasonable for EA and BioWare to write off Anthem, especially since the main BioWare team is already working on the new Dragon Age.
This makes the rescue difficult: Anthem has no way to fund the work that the team is now putting in:
- Because EA has promised not to release any paid DLCs.
- In addition, the mood among Anthem buyers is such that they want to “see something for the original money first”. If EA charges Anthem buyers for a reinvention, it would be highly problematic.
Why are they saving it then? EA seems to feel committed to the “Anthem” brand and the BioWare studio because they had advertised the game so much and it was planned as a “big hit”.
Writing off the game now as a failure would damage EA as a publisher and BioWare as a studio.
A successful Anthem would also be an important argument for EA to sweeten the deals and passes surrounding “Origin Access”. EA clearly wants to have “a game like Destiny or The Division” in its portfolio, as the other major publishers also have such long-lasting games.
Moreover, there seems to be a simple, pragmatic reason: BioWare has the SWTOR team in Austin, which has apparently been intended for the further development of Anthem from the beginning. It seems that EA has no plans for what else they should do. A major further development of the Star Wars MMORPG is obviously no longer planned.
Anthem 2.0 – Many buyers would probably try it
Why this is good for us: The rescue of Anthem is probably mainly about the reputation of EA and BioWare. For Anthem buyers, this is good news because they can only gain from it.
Even though Anthem has been harshly criticized, many liked the world, the aesthetics, and the core gameplay. A better Anthem 2.0, without having to pay again, ultimately brings only advantages. Many who bought Anthem a year ago would probably dive back into the world of Anthem if it becomes apparent that the renewed download is worthwhile.
The hype surrounding Anthem and the strategic importance of the game for EA were so great that they now at least have to try to steer the game back on course.
Whether they succeed is another matter.
