Anthem developers have begun trying to figure out what went wrong

Anthem
(Image credit: EA)

BioWare's latest Anthem update brings with it both good news and bad news. The good news, as the mere existence of the update implies, is that Anthem is still alive and, if not kicking, at least twitching feebly. The bad news is that feeble twitches are about all that we can reasonably expect from it for a long time yet.

The update was posted by Christian Dailey, formerly the franchise development director for the Anthem live services and now the studio director at BioWare Austin, which is heading up Anthem's development. He explained that an Anthem "incubation team" of about 30 people has begun "starting to validate our design hypotheses," a process that includes going back over the game to experiment with and prototype on the parts of it that didn't meet expectations.

"Spoiler—this is going to be a longer process. And yes, the team is small but the whole point of this is to take our time and go back to the drawing board. And a small team gives us the agility a larger one can’t afford," Dailey wrote.

Dailey said one of BioWare's priorities is to be "open and honest" with players throughout the process, but that's a good news/bad news proposition too, he warned.

"The reality is you will see things that look awesome but end up on the cutting room floor or things that you might think suck that you feel we are spending too much time on—but in the spirit of experimentation this is all OK. We really want to provide you all the transparency we can because of your passion and interest in Anthem," he wrote. "But, with that comes seeing how the sausage is made—which is not always pretty by the way."

BioWare also aims to be more regular with updates on the progress of Anthem's do-over in the future with things like livestreams and social media posts, although it's not clear how that will look: Dailey said BioWare "will get back to everyone on what our update cadence will look like soon."

It sounds at least potentially promising, but it's also disheartening to read that eight months after then-head of live services Chad Robertson announced that Anthem's acts were being shelved in favor of seasonal updates so BioWare could focus on more long-term, systemic fixes—complete with a promise to be "transparent" with players—the studio is still trying to figure out how it's going to keep its player base informed about the updates that haven't even started to happen yet.

Obviously it's going to be a long-term process—BioWare general manager Casey Hudson emphasized that point in February, when he announced that Anthem's seasonal structure had also been dropped so developers could focus on a "more substantial reinvention" of the game—and I don't mean to diminish the amount of work required for an undertaking of this magnitude. But nothing that's happened since then indicates that Anthem is being treated as any sort of priority, which to my mind isn't very helpful if you're trying to convince gamers that you haven't given up on the whole thing.

Nonetheless, Dailey sounded optimistic. "I am not here to over hype anything, but we do believe the changes we are making are the right ones and we hope you think so as well…but you might not and that is cool too," he wrote. "It is the constructive criticism and feedback we need—in either direction."

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in RPG
Atelier Yumia screenshot
Help, I can't move forward in this chill crafting RPG because I'm too wrapped up in building bases and making sick tools
Avowed Kai holding out his hand toward camera while explaining something to the player.
Avowed's new patch just gave you 6 more talent points to muck around with, along with a heap of fixes and improvements
Olivia, a hunter from Monster Hunter Wilds, looks perplexed in an icy blue environment.
Monster Hunter Wilds players wonder if frenzied monsters are a little undercooked, as one slaps a sickly bird into a fine paste in just 25 seconds
Sans, from the hit 2015 RPG undertale, folds his arms in a dashing suit as stonks rise in the background.
You can grab Undertale for less than $1, as the genre-defining indie RPG beats its all-time player peak for the first time in 10 years
KOTOR remake returns for annual tradition of reminding you it's still alive, but no you can't hear anything more about it until it comes back next year to say it again
Alligator skull with glowing eyes on human body and cords coming out sitting at piano with "The Norwood Etudes" ready to play
My new most anticipated RPG let me be a kleptomaniac gourmand set loose in a noir city on a quest to make 'the perfect sandwich'
Latest in News
Three sheep with big guns in Palworld.
It was 'super popular to hate Palworld' after launch, says community manager: 'A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure'
Palworld Ancient Civilization Parts - Grizzbolt with a minigun
'It was a very depressing day': Palworld community manager reveals studio's reaction to Nintendo lawsuit
CS 1.6 remade in CS: Legacy.
A gorgeous ground-up remake of Counter-Strike 1.6 is on its way to Steam, and one of the game's original creators says 'it really gives me old vibes'
Portal P3 pinball table
There's a new Portal game and it costs $12,500
MrBeast posing in front of a stack of cashing, promoting Beast Games season 2
Beast Games opens casting for season 2: MrBeast lost a ton of money on season 1 but apparently not enough that he won't do it again
Image for
Rise of the Ronin's PC troubles continue as players report disappearing saves on Steam