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Anthem Update - Anthem Next Cancelled

Bioware: Friends, In the spirit of transparency and closure we wanted to share that we’ve made the difficult decision to stop our new development work on Anthem (aka Anthem NEXT).

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blog.bioware.com
LG_Fox_Brazil1912d ago

A damn shame... I really, REALLY thought that the gameplay was amazing. The game had so many problems, but when everything was working, it was a hell lot of fun. A damn shame that EA killed such a promising game...

lifeisgamesok1912d ago

In my honest opinion, Anthem could have been huge had they made it a full game in the vein of Mass Effect with a fully fleshed out offline campaign

Instead it seems like they half assed Anthem to get some quick bucks

LG_Fox_Brazil1912d ago

Indeed, the story was terrible, although it had a few charming characters, but what got me was the gameplay. I really thought it was extremely fun

UltraNova1912d ago

To no one's surprise...

I really believe EA learned absolutely nothing here.

RaidenBlack1912d ago (Edited 1912d ago )

They at least could've turned it into a F2P.

fiveby91912d ago

I suppose at this point I'd rather they devote the resources towards Dragon Age 4 or the next Mass Effect.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1912d ago
-Foxtrot1912d ago (Edited 1912d ago )

It wasn't even fun...

You flew around for about 15 minutes, it wore off and you were left with a shitty bare bones game. You can't kill something already dead.

What did we all take away from this everyone?

Don't buy Bioware Games Day One

StoneyYoshi1912d ago

Im so glad I only played this through EA Play or id be one upset fella.

AngelicIceDiamond1912d ago

It was hell a fun for a little while anyway. It had huge potential. I'm saddened to see it go. Not surprised but definitely saddened.

It's like devs don't know how to make functional AAA's anymore.

FreeFallFrenzy1912d ago

If they had focused on single player combat and story, I bet this would've been a classic like the Mass Effect games. All of the pieces were there, it was just really watered down from the GaaS crap. Their wallets got in the way and it ultimately sank into the abyss.

B68W1912d ago

"Don't buy Bioware Games Day One"
It's a sad thing that this statement is true. Just a decade ago Bioware was one of a handful of developers that I could confidently pre-order from. Now, they're an Edgar Suit.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1912d ago
RaidenBlack1912d ago

Battlefield V and now Anthem. *sigh*
Even Bethesda turned Fallout 76 around from the abysmal garbage it was, at launch.

RememberThe3571912d ago

Why would anyone buy anything from EA ever again? If it doesn't come from Respawn it's probably undercooked trash.

MasterChief36241912d ago

Um... Fallout 76 is still pretty bad...

Godmars2901912d ago

Thought it was a broken game at conception. They had no clear plan for it and only made compromises while developing it.

CaptainHenry9161912d ago

Now I want EA to get shutdown 😁

thorstein1912d ago

Disappointing to be sure. It was fun while it lasted. The quote that makes me okay with this: "everything we had planned as a studio before COVID-19 can be accomplished without putting undue stress on our teams." That last bit.

glennhkboy1912d ago

While EA is not totally innocent, it was BioWare's decision to make Anthem a loot-shooter. It is BioWare that put far too much time on the "flight mechanic" that they finalize the game as a loot-shooter under a year before release.

Seraphim1912d ago

the game was a blast. flight was superb, combat was decent enough and the world was good. The load times & mission structure requiring load in, load out. The lack of story, lack of end game content, structure of loot, etc were all what held it back. A game like this doesn't need the best or longest of stories but it should at least be good. More importantly the end game content; or lack there of. Cataclysm should have been available w/in 2-4 weeks and fresh content either already available or available to release w/in 6 weeks with a continued flow of content throughout the year/s. At the end of the day it was a fun game but short w/ zero end game plus however many technical and graphical issues.

lifeisgamesok1912d ago

Imagine if they made it an action adventure kind of game and kept the flight mechanics while building a campaign with some nice set pieces

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 1912d ago
DOMination-1912d ago

From my understanding, EA were reviewing the progress last week. I wasn't expecting a decision so soon, so the fact they've cancelled it must mean it still wasn't in great shape

monkey6021912d ago

I'd say they haven't even done anything with it for the last year. Just tried to scrape together some sales before announcing it is dead

Darkborn1912d ago

In sure that's exactly what happened. They just held out the promise of hope for more sales while they did nothing.

oof461912d ago

Either that, or the resources and money needed, probably didn't match the return.

garos821912d ago

well look at no mans sky. they havent asked for a penny since launch and have added soo much to the game. sales have been increasing rather well for them. it just screams incompetence, bad management and truly not believing in your own hype

oof461911d ago

@garos82: I applaud Sean Murray and his studio for continuing to work on No Man's Sky, but there's a big size difference between Hello Games and Bioware (26 vs 300+). Like I said, EA figured the investment wouldn't match the return.

kayoss1912d ago (Edited 1912d ago )

I think it would have probably better to start back at square one than try to fix something that was pretty broken. If you ever did development work, you will understand what i mean. When a something that big have issues, trying to fix it might introduce other issues. These can also compound each other and render the game unplayable.
Anthem had big ambitions, but for some reasons (either biowares fault or EA's fault) the end result wasnt what they envision it to be. This is why i give props to Bungie for turning Vanilla Destiny into something good. But unfortunately, Bungie made the same mistakes with Destiny 2.

Honestly, as a developer. I dont go into a project to "half ass" it. Ill have a team, we review the plans, we execute the plan. However, with any projects, youll run into issues. Those issues can get really bad when scope began to change (scope creep). This put un-necessary stress on your team and things get slipped through the crack. I know Bioware developers had a vision in their head and wanted to make a game that theyre proud of. But maybe its due to some of the stuff i mentioned above that caused to be off track and deliver a game that bad.

MasterChief36241912d ago

I never would have guessed that it would be canceled if it wasn't in great shape. That's a real revelation, wow.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1911d ago
RaidenBlack1912d ago (Edited 1912d ago )

The game's still 60 dollars on stores. And basically going forward the game'll be in a limbo.
A 2019 game.
Hate live service games.

eddieistheillest1912d ago

When it's not on sale but usually about $9 when it is. Idgaf about the game but for trophies it's not bad for the price.

Amplitude1912d ago

The Best Buy I worked at had tons of copies for both consoles on clearance for $15 and they're still there to my knowledge. When I worked there I woulda got it for $5 and I still didn't grab it lol

jznrpg1912d ago

I bought a physical copy for 8$ a long time ago

Darkborn1912d ago

For getting lied to and ripped off. The road map was clearly a lie and it never happened.

RememberThe3571912d ago

They specifically denied refunds with the reasoning that the game would be fixed over time. The game was never fixed.

But yeah, stop buying new games, it's just a hustle.

I_am_Batman1911d ago

Honestly you'd be better off being suspicious of any marketing promises as a default position. If people keep paying for glorified early access titles, publishers will continue to release half-baked products.

Iberius1912d ago

More resources for the next Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Can’t say the decision makes me sad.

Palitera1912d ago

What's the use if they keep always deciding to remain in the con business?

Eamon1911d ago

I'm afraid Bioware is finished as a company. The serious problems started with Dragon Age Inquisition, well before Anthem or Andromeda.

Watch GVMERS mini documentary on Anthem. Working life at Bioware was miserable during development of Inquisition that devs wanted it to fail just to send a message to EA. Ironically, Inquisition was treated as a success and thus no serious intervention took place to prevent the complete fall of Bioware.

leemo191912d ago

It lasted longer than what I expected. There was good foundation there to be a good game, but every which way EA/Bioware kept cracking it, to point where it was gone.

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40°

Could Anthem live on? Tech allowing local server hosting existed, former executive producer says

BioWare's multiplayer shooter Anthem was terminated this week because EA no longer wanted to maintain servers for people to play the game on, and without them, no one can play the game. But the former executive producer of Anthem has revealed that BioWare had technology working, close to the game's release, that would enable us to host our own servers to play the game on.

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eurogamer.net
elJoker5126d ago

EA/Bioware should allow us to host our own servers to let this game live on.

Christopher126d ago

I'd be fine just playing it as a localhost and dumb as rocks AI bots. Just give me the choice.

40°

Anthem Players Report Download Errors A Week Before Shutdown

BioWare and EA had previously said the game would be accessible to those who owned it until it shuts down on January 12.

anast136d ago

Never buy online games unless there is some kind of refund policy.

50°

Only days remain before EA will switch off the servers to BioWare's ill-fated multiplayer game

Time flies (like a Javelin suit): there are only 10 days left to play BioWare's ill-fated multiplayer game Anthem before the servers are switched off, presumably forever.

Read Full Story >>
eurogamer.net
DivineHand125139d ago

In my opinion, Anthem was a good IP that was worthy of a no man's sky or cyberpunk 2077 treatment.

To this day, their sub reddit is active and I was able to get into a game quickly a few weeks ago when I booted it up.

It is a shame EA and Bioware didn't want to give the game the overhaul it needed to turn it into a competent looter shooter.

GamerRN138d ago

They were close to releasing the overhauled version and then EA cancelled it

TheGamersDojo137d ago

I wholeheartedly agree. If ANY game deserved to get the rework/relaunch it deserved it was this one. More than literally any other. Even over FFXIV, No Mans Sky etc.

SlothLordPootus139d ago

I just finished this up a couple days ago. Although it's a bit repetitive and the story is meh, the game feels great to play. Even if you can only hop on the game for a couple hours before it shuts down, I think it's worth it.

chicken_in_the_corn139d ago

Really enjoyed this. Shame to see it go.

Software_Lover139d ago

I didnt know servers were still up. I could have been playing!!!

victorMaje138d ago

2nd comment attempt (1st doesn’t appear & this may register as duplicate):

They can spend billions to buy or get bought but they can’t spend a fraction of that to fix or overhaul a game that could have been truly special, smh.

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