BioWare's upcoming third-person shooter Anthem will mix shared-world shooting for up to four players, across missions and open-world exploration, with a single-player story that unfolds in Fort Tarsis, the home base of the Freelancers. But producer Mike Gamble revealed today that it will also offer a multiplayer hub called the Launch Bay, where as many as 16 players can get together to prep for new missions or just hang out and be social.
After a mission, you can head back to Tarsis and catch up with some of the amazing characters we've created for you...OR...head back to the brand new Launch Bay, hang out with your friends, use the forge, reload and grab a new contract. Yeah, we listened to you... details soon! pic.twitter.com/m5sp96IpDhJanuary 23, 2019
A proper multiplayer social space is a pretty big thing: I dig BioWare's commitment to single-player, but Anthem gameplay leans heavily into multiplayer and it always struck me as a bit odd that you wouldn't be able to interact with your fellow Freelancers in places where enemies weren't actively trying to kill you.
The obvious analog is Destiny 2's Tower, which doesn't offer much in the way of gameplay but enables fireteams to stick together when they need to take a break. It also greatly enhances the shared world experience: NPCs are great for dealing out missions and dialog, but nothing says, "Hey, there are other people here" like other people actually being there.
Unfortunately, Gamble said in a separate tweet that the Launch Bay will not be available in the demo, which will also be different from the full release in several other ways. Find out when you can play it right here.
