BioWare announces “substantial reinvention” of Anthem
BioWare's exosuit-based action role-playing game, Anthem, launched almost a year ago to mixed reviews. The hype-train slowed upon the game's release, but the game stayed in the news cycle for some time after its launch as information regarding its rushed and poorly managed development cycle came out. Eventually, the game mostly faded from the public eye, as its gameplay loop and end game were not able to keep a large, long term playerbase.
Yesterday, BioWare published a blog post by Casey Hudson, the studio's general manager. Speaking on behalf of Anthem's development team, Hudson said the following:
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.
Anthem has received a number of updates and has had three seasons of content, but the team will move away from developing and releasing seasons in order to focus on this "substantial reinvention." However, it is not clear what exactly this "reinvention" entails. Hudson did not specify whether the current game will see these changes or if we'll see them in Anthem 2. Hudson did say that the development team will have adequate time for proper development and testing, which is good news, given that many of the game's current problems can be attributed to the rushed development cycle.
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. 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.
In the mean time, the game will continue on in its current form and will begin to revisit past seasonal content with the anniversary of the game's launch.
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