BioWare finally confirmed the rumors with a short announcement message from Casey Hudson on the studio’s blog page. Anthem is getting a complete redesign in the coming months. While this is happening the current version of the game will continue to function with regular store refreshes and a revisit of the Cataclysm and Seasonal events. Read below for the full details!
BioWare GM Casey Hudson has been quiet for a while. Until today! A new short blog post on the studio’s blog page reveals the intentions from the dev team towards Anthem – a complete redesign of all core game features and ideas. The game will continue to function in the meantime with some smaller and regular updates, patches and store refreshes.
I have to admit – I was expecting this closer to the release date of the game, but with the segmented launch Anthem had, it is actually hard to pin-point a release date. The official one was February 22nd (if you want to know). Casey’s post came about a week or two earlier, but I am happy it did, because the waiting and the rumors were so annoying!
Casey’s blog post does not tell much, but reveals a few key details about the studio’s plans for 2020 (and beyond). I will split it up in pieces and analyze it for you below. Share your own thoughts in the comments, especially if you think differently than me!
Let’s begin!
“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 are grateful to all the players who have come along with us on the journey.”
Anthem was one of the most anticipated video game titles for 2019. It was over-hyped after we all saw that E3 demo the previous year. Later it turned out that this demo did not represent the game, but was actually a stand-alone production created with one single purpose – to make us all believe in the BioWare magic and get us hyped for the upcoming game. Perhaps this was the biggest reason why Anthem failed in the eyes of many players – because it was so very different in almost every aspect when we compared the E3 demo and the actual product on release.
Casey opens up with a honest statement, calling the launch of the game “an exhilarating and terrifying experience”. The segmented launch did not help get us all in at the same time and the many (many!) gameplay and server issues the game was riddled with, actually blew up in BioWare’s face as many started canceling their pre-orders or simply asked for a refund.
There is no doubt that those of use who stayed with the game and kept our hopes up, have a reason to celebrate now that Anthem 2.0 (or whatever they decide to call this project) has been confirmed officially.
“It has been a thrill for us to see the creativity of our players in designing customized Javelins, and watching them master Anthem’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.“
It is true that the learning curve has been steep, but I hope they really learned their lessons. Anthem should be the last “live service” product that releases in a half-finished state and uses its playerbase as a beta (some even called it alpha) testers.
There is no doubt that most of us fell in love with the flying and combat gameplay elements of Anthem. I cannot tell if I would have stayed with the game if those two were not so insanely fun and entertaining.
“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.”
He could not have said it better, I think. The Anthem today is so vastly improved over the Anthem that BioWare launched around that time last year. Some nasty bugs are still present and the game keeps occasionally crashing on me now and then for no apparent reason, but many of the biggest issues have been dealt with in these twelve months.
“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 challenges and progression with meaningful rewards – while preserving the fun of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting.”
That’s the really important segment from Casey’s post indeed. He says “over the coming months”. What does that mean? In my years it means that they are not planning to leave the game in this state until its second anniversary. Instead we could expect to start seeing major changes and improvements with patches very soon.
The challenges and rewards system has always been a joke. It is not right to farm something for a week or even a month to get 2000 Coins and some Wrap as a reward while at the same time the Store receives weekly updates with cool outfits that cost up to thirty times the amount of Coins you got out of that tough and long-lasting challenge.
How do you make sure you do not repeat these mistakes? That’s right! A proper testing focus group!
“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.”
This could mean that some of the close to EA influencers will get their hands on some of the new features early to provide feedback – EA has been doing this for other games in the past as we know.
It could also mean that we will start seeing the Public Test Server live and stuffed with new content and features more often!
I vote for the second option. What about you?
“In the meantime, we will continue to run the current version of Anthem, but move 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.”
Anthem got a big influx of new players in December, because of the cheap price of the game and the fact that it was the Holiday season. The announcement that BioWare will not close down the servers while they work on the redesign, is good, I think.
All of us, who still enjoy the current version of the game and want to keep playing it, can continue to do so. I bet there will be some incentive for us to keep doing that too.
There is no doubt in my mind that with that announcement out in the open you and many others might think of taking a break until the changes start rolling. This would keep you fresh for the new Anthem. To prevent that from happening, BioWare has to come up with a plan to keep us playing.
Anthem is not getting a reboot, which means that what we have earned and will continue earning in the current game we will get to keep. What I and you have labeled “Anthem 2.0” is not “Anthem 2”. It’s going to be the same game and Casey’s post confirmed it.
The blog post finishes with another honest statement:
“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 to working together with your involvement and feedback towards the best possible future for Anthem.”
I must say I am happy with what I saw from the few PTS testing sessions we got in 2019. The Cataclysm was a great success and it was mostly because of all the testing and feedback the devs received. This, in my opinion, is the biggest and most successful update for Anthem for its first year.
In conclusion – Casey’s post did not reveal much, but I think it was important for us to finally get that official statement and confirmation out. The rumors and the waiting was way past the tolerable amount, I think.
Are you happy with what BioWare and Casey told us today? Why?
Read next: Anthem May Update – The beginning of the redesign process
