The new action RPG Anthem is receiving many negative reviews upon release. A photo is now causing a stir: it shows a mountain of chocolate bars with “62%” and Anthem written on them. The number also corresponds to the score on Metacritic.
Where is the photo from? The image comes from the Twitter account of a designer at Anthem. The team seemingly celebrated the launch day of Anthem with photos in front of a greenscreen and chocolate bars from a company that offers special, handcrafted chocolates.
The designer posted the image without much further comment on what it might signify.
That’s why it’s so sensitive: The mountain of chocolate bars clearly displays the logo “Anthem” along with “62%”:
- The 62% likely indicates the cocoa content of the chocolate bars
- at the same time, the 62% is also the metascore that Anthem received, after many negative reviews.
This is the view on it: On reddit the image is being discussed. There, it is said that BioWare made “chocolate bars” with the metascore of Anthem on the packaging.
Comments from redditors include: “That must taste salty,” referencing the fact that many tears are likely flowing among some Anthem developers due to the reviews.
Others think: BioWare could now use this to turn the criticism they are facing into something positive and see it as motivation.
Some feel reminded of a defiant reaction, like that seen with Battlefield 5. There, developers are said to have amused themselves at the launch party over some “bad fan reactions” regarding the feminism controversy .
It is also reported of Bungie that some developers had the Destiny score of “6/10” printed on T-shirts. Apparently, that was a team-building measure.
Defiant reaction or pure coincidence?
What possibilities are there? There has been no statement from BioWare yet on whether the team truly made the chocolate bars as a sign to deal with the poor reviews or to provoke a defiant reaction.
However, the “62%” appears to be placed very conspicuously for just a coincidence.
One wonders why this particular design was chosen:
- The bars could be a defiant reaction to the bad reviews and intended as a motivational measure
- but perhaps BioWare had already ordered the chocolate bars a long time ago and this is indeed a coincidence
- or it was just the idea of a single employee at BioWare and not a coordinated action with the team.
In any case, the design choice and the tweet are causing discussions.
We already know what BioWare officially plans as a response to the many criticisms:
