BioWare will overhaul Anthem, puts hold on seasonal content
Will we see a comeback?
BioWare is giving Anthem one more shot.
Anthem, an online role-playing game for multiple players, was met with subpar reviews when it launched almost a year ago -- a surprise given that its developer, BioWare, also made the critically acclaimed Mass Effect and Dragon Age games. The developer has acknowledged its problems and appears to be making one big push to fix everything.
BioWare general manager Casey Hudson wrote a blog post Monday giving an update on Anthem, saying there's still more work to be done to "bring out the full potential of the experience." To do that, the development team will move from making new seasonal content and focus on improving the sci-fi open-world looter shooter.
"Over the coming months we will be focusing on a longer-term redesign of the experience, specifically working to reinvent the core gameplay loop with clear goals, motivating challenges and progression with meaningful rewards -- while preserving the fun of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting," Hudson said. "And to do that properly we'll be doing something we'd like to have done more of the first time around -- giving a focused team the time to test and iterate, focusing on gameplay first."
News of the developer's plan for the game seemed to spark some excitement because the site went down only minutes after the blog was posted.
(cue elevator music) Please hold while we get our blog site back online.
— BioWare (@bioware) February 10, 2020
Hudson didn't provide a timeline on when the Anthem redesign will be finished. He did say there will still be in-game events, store refreshes and the revisiting of past seasonal and cataclysm content, including for the one-year anniversary later this month.
This is not the first time BioWare acknowledged problems with Anthem. At E3 2019, lead producer Ben Irving said the studio "learned a lot" since the game launched but believes it can be an amazing game.
In November, news of the big overhaul to Anthem began circulating. Not many details were available at the time, but some familiar with the plans called the redesign "Anthem 2.0" or "Anthem Next" according to Kotaku.
Originally published on Feb. 10 at 11:08 a.m. PT.
Update, 11:16 a.m. PT: Adds background. Feb. 11: Adds additional details.
