Anthem at Crossroads
(Image credit: Hello Games)
Is Anthem finally being pulled off life support? According to a Bloomberg news article on Anthem sighting sources familiar with the matter, EA is deciding whether to continue the game Anthem or stop its development. It is a game full of potential that was marred by quick patches and a big promise for an expansive update that is yet to be delivered. The Load Screen compares the roadmap taken by No Man’s Sky, and whether Anthem has gone too long for that path to be viable.
Gamers worry that if EA cancels Anthem this week, it will suddenly drop from their library but that is not likely at all. The game has profitable in-game transactions to keep the servers running even if new production ends. Also, the title adds variety to the EA Play games list, which is EA’s fledgling subscription service that only boasts 60 titles on PC. If production ends, players are left with the final version of Anthem already, unless the promised 2.0 update is finalized and published for everyone. However, the last Twitter post from Christian Dailey on Anthem development was from November 25, and it was concept art, not gameplay. Adding to the dilemma, that developer has been moved to the Dragon Age team, according to another Christian Dailey Twitter post.
This leads to the comparison of Anthem to No Man’s Sky, which had a similar start with a rocky fan relationship since the game promised more than it could deliver on day 1. Both titles had a quick round of updates that fixed small issues, but Hello Games kept the update machine rolling even after 2 years of struggling. They never stopped evolving and managed to keep the main team together despite death threats, according to a Guardian Interview with No Man’s Sky Developer Sean Murray. The work on the title was crucial, costly, and effective because each iteration brought more gamers into the community. After launching on the Xbox Game Pass in 2020, the game had over 2 million Pass users in only a few months according to a Sean Murray Xbox Wire article.
No Man’s Sky could have died a long time ago, but Hello Games kept its resources and talent in place. They backed the game with open player communication throughout the implementation of the steady updates, including developmental notes on the website. Giving the players one location to view both can grow a fan base, especially if the game makers listen and respond during every step, see the No Man’s Sky news page for their communication strategy.
Currently, BioWare and EA do not centralize the information on the state of development for Anthem. That communication was most recently handled by Christian Dailey, but he no longer works with the title directly. Chris was already a replacement since having to fill the shoes of the executive in charge of development media when Chad Robertson’s tweet confirmed he was leaving BioWare. Many wondered if the game was dead back then and who would take over for Chad, including Paul Tassi in his Forbes article on the Last Guy Running Anthem.
There could be a chance for EA to salvage and fully support Anthem since the game still has potential. They would have to change certain issues immediately to achieve any success. Starting with posting developmental updates for fans by another BioWare executive, move them to the EA Anthem news website, or flush out BioWare’s blog page with new information directly. Also, EA should begin periodic updates since the last revision was made on February 25, 2020, instead of promising a delayed massive overhaul, according to the EA Anthem 1.70 Update Notes page.
It will be hard for EA to continue development on Anthem since it will take a serious investment, and the success of No Man’s Sky is proof that a modern game can turn around a slow start. However, that success takes transparent communication with fans and consistent free updates that are incremental improvements that add playable content to the original title. The Load Screen team hopes that EA will reinvigorate Anthem, but the decision may have happened a while ago since executive staff was pulled and the most recent development updates have only been concept art.
