BioWare, the developer behind Anthem, still believes that the game has a future. After its release, Anthem ended up becoming one of the worst-reviewed games in BioWare’s history. Thanks to a series of game-breaking bugs, a disappointing in-game economy and a series of other problems, players haven’t been big fans of the title either.
As it stands, Anthem continues to remain a disappointment to most of its players. A recent survey showed that nearly half of Anthem players had experienced multiple bugs when trying to play the game with almost half of Anthem players quitting the game, with many others admitting they would quit soon. Most players also believe that the game’s future is concerning and is not all that promising. It even seemed like Anthem was such an embarrassment for EA that the publisher planned on ignoring it at its 2019 EA Play conference.
EA didn’t do much with Anthem at E3 but the game did get a small mention during the EA Play live stream, checking in with Ben Irving, Anthem’s producer, who stated that BioWare learned a lot after the title’s launch and that it is committed to listening carefully to player feedback to improve the game. He also believes that the title still has a chance to wow players and be an “amazing game” with a bright future. Gamers Prey posted video of the short segment:
YouTube user TheHaddockBanker posted a different, albeit funnier, take of Anthem’s appearance on EA Play:
Although EA seems to be standing behind Anthem, this could be a case of too little, too late. So many players have already left Anthem because the core gameplay loop and content just isn’t there, and this has left remaining players in the lurch when looking for teammates for missions because of a decreased pool of players to select from for matchmaking. Anthem’s bungled release has already done a lot of damage to BioWare’s reputation, even more than Mass Effect Andromeda. Fans continue to blast Anthem online, especially with every update seeming to bring even more new problems to the game: every “fix” seems to break it further.
Anthem started with a promising premise, but it seems telling that EA put so little focus on it at its E3 presentation and that they’re playing of the (fully priced retail) game now as “early access.” The company understands that Anthem is an embarrassment, but instead of apologizing, the PR machine insists that it can be fixed. Although BioWare has turned its focus to Dragon Age 4, the company still insists it has the resources to continue working on Anthem to make it better. At this point, though, are the players still around to care?
Sources: BioWare, Gamers Prey
