Anthem may just go down in history as one of the most important games of the year, albeit for all the wrong reasons. A lesson in how harmful hype can be, an example of the damage that poor management can create and a showcase of a publisher mandating that an adventure needs to be crafted in a manner that’ll please its shareholders who are totes all about that live service model, Anthem crashed and burned harder than the Hindenburg on launch.
The game has been bleeding players, its own subreddit can barely defend it and the road ahead looks fraught with peril as BioWare races to keep fans around with new content. Content that has now been delayed. While this week’s 1.10 update rejiggers more of the game and throws in a brand spankin’ new Stronghold to adventure through, just about everything else on the ambitious roadmap has been delayed.
“We have learned a lot since the game went live,” a Reddit thread from BioWare explained.
“We have heard a lot of feedback from all of you, and we have been working diligently to improve as many things as we can in the short term. We’ve fixed a lot of bugs and made changes which we believe begin to point us in the right direction for the future. That being said, we know there is a long way to go before Anthem becomes the game we all want it to be.
What does that mean? That features such as a new Mastery system, guild support and the big Cataclysm endgame event are still a long ways away as BioWare prioritises work on Anthem’s buggier features. And that’s without any mention at all of the other six Freeplay Events that would have entered weekly rotation so that players would have new quests to embark on.
Hardly surprising, given just how little BioWare has communicated with its shrinking fan base so far. It’s not all bad news though! Update 1.10 has brought with it some positive cha-cha-changes, such as the ability to actually access your inventory while you’re out in the world and the option to load into new missions directly after you’ve completed one, instead of being shunted back to Fort Tarsis.
Welcome changes three months after launch, even if Anthem’s new ideas make playing the older and more tired game world that little bit more bearable.
Last Updated: April 24, 2019
Umar
April 24, 2019 at 07:47
Was checking out the reactions to the livestream too…and holy moly BioWare is driving this game into the ground. They said they delivered a lot of the promised content yet it was all QoL changes and bug fixes. What is BioWare doing -_-
Sibongile N
April 24, 2019 at 20:08
Usually with news like this, we get someone who say that it’s not Bioware’s fault but EA’s. I hope they’ve learnt by now that this mess is all on Bioware.
Caveshen Rajman
April 24, 2019 at 07:54
*anime sigh*
Kromas
April 24, 2019 at 08:04
Meanwhile Bethesda is dropping tons of content in Fallout 76 as promised. Too bad the content is like 30 mins long at best and the quiet nerfs in between is pissing everyone off.
Yay for live service games!
Even Division 2 is making some stupid moves but at least they are rather open and transparent about it.
Pariah
April 24, 2019 at 09:14
They also added P2W mechanics, so yay for F76 credit card owners!
Kromas
April 24, 2019 at 09:51
The p2w mechanic is stupid at best and I have not heard of anyone even bothering to use their grinded currency to even buy this. I do agree though that it was a bad move.
Pieter Kruger
April 24, 2019 at 08:19
Still grinding daily for a Legendary Focus seal! I did notice a definate increase in loot quality if you stack Luck% so I’ll jump back in again once new Patch is done downloading.
G8crasha
April 24, 2019 at 09:59
I am holding out that they will fix what is broken, and improve on the game to pull players back. I’ve got faith, brother (albeit, it is waning)!
Guz
April 24, 2019 at 10:34
I’m not mad just disappointed 🙁
Nikola
April 24, 2019 at 10:50
This game is suuuuch a joke hahah!!
I am glad I went for Division 2 instead of this much much better game!! We also actually getting good free content still excited to see what the raid will bring:)
HairyEwok
April 24, 2019 at 09:42
ME Andromeda: We’re screwed
Anthem: Hold my beer….
Mila Page
April 24, 2019 at 16:35
I felt a bit of disappointment.
Sibongile N
April 24, 2019 at 20:08
Has it been 10 weeks already? My thoughts and prayers to those that paid full-price for this half-finished game.