During a pre-panel press briefing at PAX West, Mark Darrah and Mike Gamble of BioWare announced that the VIP demo for Anthem will be arriving on February 1st for PC, Xbox One, and PS4 simultaneously.
'VIP' because EA Access subscribers and anyone who preorders are the only ones guaranteed access, though more methods for having a go at the demo will be detailed at a later date. Gamble and Darrah said that this will not be a tech demo meant designed for testing online infrastructure, but a legitimate, old-school demo—a vertical slice of Anthem designed to demonstrate what it's all about.
Tech tests will happen as well, but details for those have not been announced.
Demos are rare, arguably replaced by a combination of Early Access, temporary betas, and plentiful access to video footage. BioWare's typically known for sprawling singleplayer RPGs where your relationships with characters and choices have a big impact on the story and world, which makes a shared-world shooter that looks like it's doing a convincing Destiny impression a tougher sell for BioWare's usual crowd. Everything we've learned about Anthem so far makes it sound like a good time, though I don't expect it to scratch my Mass Effect itch. Andromeda left a big rash behind.
