Anthem (PS4,X1,PC)

[Flawless]

Kotaku: BioWare Doubles Down On Anthem As Pressure Mounts

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Over the past few months, BioWare has essentially transformed into a single-game studio as it harnesses its teams to work on the ambitious multiplayer action game Anthem, sources say. There are still small teams maintaining Star Wars: The Old Republic and piecing together the next Dragon Age, which was recently rebooted, but the bulk of BioWare’s staff in both Edmonton and Austin are now on Anthem. And there’s a sense among BioWare employees that the company’s future is inextricably tied to this game. Anthem, which was announced at E3 2017, is now scheduled for release in early 2019, according to three people familiar with the project. The “fall 2018” window mentioned during that E3 announcement was “never realistic,” one source said. Exact dates remain in flux—and Anthem’s developers must also plan for a beta release, an EA Access launch, and an ongoing schedule of patches and updates—but it appears unlikely to developers that publisher EA will allow BioWare to delay the game any further than March 2019, when the company’s 2019 fiscal year comes to an end.

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To BioWare staff, the stakes feel higher than they ever have. As one developer told me, there’s a belief that if Anthem doesn’t live up to EA’s expectations, BioWare will look very different in the future, especially after the disappointment of Mass Effect Andromeda led to EA absorbing BioWare Montreal into the studio EA Motive.

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Most recently, sources say, Anthem’s developers have been watching the ongoing anger in the Destiny 2 community over the state of that game. Destiny fans have grown irritated at Destiny 2’s lack of content, Bungie’s poor communication, and the lingering feeling that Destiny 2 is repeating its predecessor’s mistakes. Although fans and pundits have suggested that Destiny 2’s inability to capture hardcore players may leave an opening for Anthem to grab that crowd, some BioWare developers have expressed worry that their game will face its own growing pains, as all games of this nature do. Most persistent action games have had to recover from rocky launches, including Destiny, Diablo III, and The Division. The question is: how much patience will EA have for Anthem?

[jfsolo]

I'm usually not a gloom and doomer, but I expect Anthem to be the end of Bioware.

[mgoblue]

That was a great article (and I highly recommend Blood, Sweat, and Pixels...Jason from Kotaku's book about game dev).

Has me less excited about Anthem though, because I'm not buying into the "Destiny" type game is the future mantra.

[KSUowls]

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

I'm usually not a gloom and doomer, but I expect Anthem to be the end of Bioware.

Yeah I could see that being the case rather easily.

Bioware hasn't had a lot of successes lately. There last several projects were either duds or cancelled. In fact, I think the B team that worked on Andromeda was absorbed elsewhere in EA.

Anthem looks like it could great, but I have to be on the doom & gloom side. Between their game trend over the last several years and the monetization schemes that will undoubtedly be pushed by their parent EA I just don't have much hope for this game.

Maybe we'll be surprised though.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Delayed until 2019

https://kotaku.com/biowares-anthem-o...ium=Socialflow

[KSUowls]

It's very likely that I'm quite jaded and pessimistic when it comes to any EA company, but some of the comments here have me concerned that by paying $60 for the base game of Anthem you get basically the intro missions and to get the full story experience be prepared to drop additional money on future DLC.

https://www.polygon.com/2018/4/16/17...-on-storylines

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And our games must be designed to continue delivering new stories and experiences, in an ongoing relationship with players in the worlds we’re evolving together

[Gotmadskillzson]

Quote: Originally Posted by KSUowls

It's very likely that I'm quite jaded and pessimistic when it comes to any EA company, but some of the comments here have me concerned that by paying $60 for the base game of Anthem you get basically the intro missions and to get the full story experience be prepared to drop additional money on future DLC. https://www.polygon.com/2018/4/16/17...-on-storylines

You can say that about most games that came out the past 3 years really.

[KSUowls]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gotmadskillzson

You can say that about most games that came out the past 3 years really.

Certainly, but some are more bold than others about cutting content only to be released later.