There is still little news about BioWare’s new online shooter Anthem. So far, no real hype has ignited, and most remain skeptical about Anthem. According to Game Director Jon Warner, this will change soon.
Since the reveal of Anthem at E3 2017, there has been little concrete information about BioWare’s new flagship title. During the E3 2018, new trailers were released, but they didn’t reveal much new information.
A single Twitter account as the source of all information: For those following news about Anthem, the Twitter account of Mark Darrah is likely well known. The Lead Producer hosts an ongoing Q&A session until the release. Here, anyone can ask questions, and Darrah may provide brief answers.
Small bites of information, much room for speculation: The result is that small one-sentence statements about Anthem keep appearing. Articles in the press regularly summarize these snippets and attempt to decipher the meaning of each sentence with the fans. This is often unsatisfactory.
Fans are now being patient: This “marketing strategy” is causing skepticism among many. We also notice this in the comments on MeinMMO. Many wonder why the developers don’t talk concretely and in detail about story or mechanics. There are no additional trailers that could get one excited. Simply nothing.
Anthem should mature before BioWare went public
In an interview from Gamescom 2018 with gamesindustry.biz, Game Director Jon Warner revealed that BioWare intentionally decided to hold back information.
Large public presence in the coming months: Warner assured that Anthem will have a significant public presence in the coming months. Both marketing and media will be involved.
The developers felt the need to keep Anthem away from the public for a while and wanted to let it mature quietly. Anthem should first become what BioWare wanted and needed from the game.
At PAX West, BioWare wants to reveal more about the story
Kickoff of the media campaign at PAX West? At the gaming festival, BioWare will start a panel discussion about Anthem. This is titled “Our World, My Story.” Here, the Anthem team wants to explain how the many different stories work together. Every player is to be a building block of the story.
It is conceivable that BioWare is planning to kick off its marketing campaign for Anthem here, where we could learn more details about the game. However, this is speculation.
When does the panel discussion start? On Saturday, September 1, at 10:30 PM.
Where can it be seen? On the Twitch channel of PAX West.
We at MeinMMO will, of course, follow the discussion and provide you with the latest information.
BioWare says: Anthem is an evolution of the iconic solo RPGs
Jon Warner also spoke in the interview about Anthem being a true BioWare production. Fans were worried that the strengths of the studio would suffer under the publisher EA.
Anthem adheres to the two principles of the studio:
- Be generous to players: They never want players to regret investing money and time with BioWare. This is especially important to the developers as creators and gamers.
- Provide an experience that captivates: For the studio, it would be a big opportunity with Anthem as a games-as-a-service to provide players with a BioWare experience for an extended period. They find this particularly interesting. BioWare wants to amaze players and move them, seeking reasons for players to return to Anthem repeatedly. This drives and guides the developers.
How the developers plan to implement these two principles in practice may be something we hear about in the coming months.
What do you think about BioWare’s decision to stay under the radar for so long?
