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Anthem as it currently exists is hanging on by the most tenuous of threads. Despite apparently being one of 2019's top selling titles, at least according to data shared by The NPD Group, the player base is next to non-existent. It would take a significant amount of work to get players interested in the game once again, which is apparently what BioWare has been working on behind the scenes for a little while now.
As Anthem nears its one year anniversary, BioWare announced that they have dedicated a team to making significant changes to Anthem. This revelation comes to us today through a new BioWare Blog posting that went live from the one and only Casey Hudson, General Manager of the studio.
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.
For those unaware, "A Realm Reborn" references Final Fantasy XIV, a cursed MMO initially released in 2010 from Square Enix that was given a mercy killing and brought back as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. The initial release of the game was a disaster, to say the least. Square Enix literally killed the game world and almost completely redid every aspect of the game. It was given a fresh release in 2013 as A Realm Reborn. Compared to its past life, the new release was almost universally praised.
It's still too early to suggest that Anthem will have its own "Realm Reborn" moment but fans can certainly hope. As it stands, the team at BioWare will apparently "continue to run the current version of Anthem" until the overhaul updates are ready to be released. This all comes at the loss of full seasons for the current version of the game. That is to say, don't expect any major updates for a while as the team works on the overhauled release. Things like events, store refreshes, and past seasonal content will still pop up fairly regularly though. BioWare still also plans on celebrating the game's one-year anniversary near the end of the month too.
Casey's blog entry leaves a lot of questions up in the air. I have to wonder if perhaps this announcement was made prematurely as the details on what fans should expect are severely lacking. With any luck, BioWare will continue to be open in their communication to current and hopeful fans. It would be nice to know exactly what is in the pipeline for the game in order to have a better understanding of the extent to which the game will be changed. One also has to wonder if perhaps BioWare or EA should have just flat out pulled the current game instead of trying to support it with minor updates while also working on these major changes.
