A former BioWare developer provides a bit more development insight into Electronic Art’s third-person shooterAnthem, and that its sequel could have been something potentially great. For a studio known for sprawling RPG franchises likeDragon AgeandMass Effect, many were surprised whenEA and BioWare revealed the more action heavy shooterAnthem. Taking control of four distinct Iron Man style suits called Javelins, players entered a shared world that could be tackled solo or in groups. Originally released early in 2019,Anthemdidn’t quite live up to fan expectations even though fans seemed to enjoy the combat and flight mechanics.The game largely received mixed reviews due to technical issues like long loading screens and gameplay problems with uninspired loot as well as a repetitive grind. However, BioWare continued to tweak the core experience and addpost-launch content like Cataclysms and seasonal updates. Unfortunately, the game would only survive a year with BioWare intending to reinvent the core gameplay loop, but ultimately deciding to discontinue work fully.RELATED:Former Dragon Age Producer Reflects On BioWare’s ProblemsWhile theultimate fate ofAnthemlikely disappointed many fansand those who worked on it, one former BioWare employee named Ian Saterdalen managed to find the positives in the project. Responding to a thread intended to highlight the positive aspects of a largely panned game they worked on, Saterdalen revealed that they learned a lot from working onAnthemand knew it wasn’t ready after only 15 months of development time. However, Saterdalen believes that the future would have been bright for a potential sequel thanks to the lessons learned, even going as far as to say it would have been great.
The simple admission seemed to grab the community’s attention as Saterdalen started replying to numerous comments from interested fans. One fan in particular was surprised to hearAnthemwas made in only 15 months, to which Saterdalen admitted that the team was really pushing their limits to get it done, with many individuals working an unsustainable 90 hours per week. While wondering what could have been considering its solid foundation, some even wondered what the IP would like if Respawn were able to take control of it.
Saterdalen even speculated thatBioWare could take another crack at it as theAnthem 2.0projectwas seemingly heading in the right direction before the plug was pulled. After getting shifted to a small team based on BioWare Austin, developers attempted to overhaul core mechanics and gave fans periodic updates on how that process was going. Although the various changes sounded promising, the arrival of the COVID-19 global pandemic as well as a renewed push onMass Effect 4andDragon Age: Dreadwolfultimately force EA to pull the plug on the rework.
Anthemis available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
