Anthem has had an incredibly rough go of things since it launched last year. Many fans were left furious and felt completely ripped off after so many features and promises were left unfulfilled. It even earned itself as GO’s worst game of the year for 2019. Now, Bioware is once again doubling down with more promises to improve.
Earlier today, Bioware put up a somewhat surprising blog post, outlining their intentions of redesigning Anthem from the ground up. And considering the community has long since felt the game was completely abandoned by EA and Bioware (even only after a few months into the game’s lifespan), Bioware is apparently working to try to make good on their initial vision for the looter-shooter.
As of right now, the blog post is not showing up on Blog.Bioware.com – this is either due to heavy traffic, some changes being made to the blog post itself, or perhaps even having been deleted. However, we got you covered on what it says or said before their website stopped responding:
One year ago, we were preparing to launch Anthem – a game that represented a big leap into new territory for us as a studio. It was an exhilarating and terrifying experience to go out to the world with something new and different, and we were grateful to all the players who have come along with us on the journey. It has been a thrill for us to see the creativity of our players in designing customized Javelins, and watching them master Antehnm’s flying and fighting gameplay. I am so proud of the work the team has put into this game, and at the same time there’s so much more that we – and you – would have wanted from it.
Over the last year, the team has worked hard to improve stability, performance and general quality of life while delivering three seasons of new content and features. We have also heard your feedback that Anthem needs a more satisfying loot experience, better long-term progression and a more fulfilling end game. So we recognize that there’s still more fundamental work to be done to bring out the full potential of the experience and it will require a more substantial reinvention than an update or expansion. 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 challengers, and progression with meaningful rewards – while preserving the fun of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting. And to do that properly, well 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.
In the meantime, we will continue to run the current version of Anthem, bit more away from full seasons as the team works towards the future of Anthem. We’ll keep the game going with events, store refreshes, and revisiting past seasonal and cataclysm content – starting with our anniversary towards the end of the month.
Creating new worlds is central to our studio mission, but it’s not easy. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we miss. What keeps us going is the support from players like you. Your feedback gives us guidance on how we can improve, and your passion inspires us with the courage to create. I look forward together with your involvement and feedback towards the best possible future for Anthem.
-Casey Hudson, Bioware GM
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I have some questions… First, what is this going to cost? If the game is getting reinvented, does that mean players who have the game already can expect a whole new game at no extra cost or will they have to pay for it? Will the existing price of Anthem go up once all this happens? Sure, they are early in this announcement, but it would be nice to know ahead of time.
As for the need to reinvent the game, the above would suggest that aside from flying around, they are going to go back to square one on pretty much everything else but what does that mean for the story? Is the current version of Anthem going to remain canon with their redesign? Are they going to redo it but better or ax the whole thing and try something different?
For me, what I really want most of all is not an explanation of a missed opportunity, but an apology for the deception I have felt from Bioware since day one when Anthem launched. I do not feel that the game ever came close to delivering what was promised and while I am intrigued at the idea of a reinvention, I certainly don’t know if I have any further patience for devs like Bioware who seemingly took advantage of the community with false promises and countless failures, and then responded with arrogance once they were called out on it.
For me, it is a little too late to want to give them any more time, money or chances. Regardless of whichever costs less.
