BioWare is officially heading back to the drawing board and redesigning Anthem from the ground up.
About a year ago, Anthem was released to great expectations that it utterly failed to live up to. Within months of release, BioWare went radio silent as they frantically tried to address player criticism surrounding everything from the game’s thin plot to poor loot system. Anthem’s Cataclysm update, billed as the game’s big fix, again failed to address player concerns, leading some to think that EA was mere months away from cutting their losses and closing down the game entirely.
A string of high-profile departures made it seem like Anthem’s fate was all but sealed, but last November a rumor emerged that BioWare was working on a plan. The exact details of that plan ranged from tearing the entire game down and rebuilding it from the ground up or sending out large seasonal updates like No Man’s Sky.
Now it appears like we’ve got our first indication of just where Anthem is headed. In a message on BioWare’s website, general manager Casey Hudson revealed that they plan to relaunch Anthem in a single huge update that reworks the entire game’s core systems.
"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,” said Hudson. “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 also gave a rare peek into how Anthem was built, saying that they'll do "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."
Anthem will halt its seasonal update model as BioWare gears up to relaunch the game with a massive update. In the meantime, the game will still host periodic events to keep things fresh for its remaining players, and also relaunch some past seasonal content.
We have no idea when Anthem 2.0 will launch, but hopefully this time they take the time to do the job right.
Source: BioWare