EA and Bioware has announced it has cancelled further development of its troubled 2019 loot shooter Anthem, citing the desire to move on to other projects.
The so-called Anthem NEXT game, which has been billed as a “fundamental restructure” of the original title, will no longer happen. In an announcement, executive producer Christian Dailey said that the Covid-19 pandemic meant BioWare had to make some sacrifices as a studio. As a result, Anthem Next won’t be completed or released.
“2020 was a year unlike any other… and while we continue to make progress against all our game projects at BioWare, working from home during the pandemic has had an impact on our productivity and not everything we had planned as a studio before COVID-19 can be accomplished without putting undue stress on our teams,” he wrote in the blog post.
BioWare will continue to keep the Anthem live service running, but further development has been ceased. Instead, BioWare plans to pour its resources into the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect games, as well as continuing to bolster Star Wars: The Old Republic.
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“I know this will be disappointing to the community of Anthem players who have been excited to see the improvements we’ve been working on,” he added. “It’s also disappointing for the team who were doing brilliant work.”
It’s fair to say the reaction hasn’t been overwhelmingly positive, but it’s seems clear this decision has come from above – BioWare’s parent company Electronic Arts. Some gamers remarked that Mass Effect Andromeda was abandoned to focus on Anthem, but that too has fallen by the wayside. Others blame the parent company, EA.
So you abandoned Andromeda to focus on Anthem and now you’re abandoning Anthem to focus on Mass Effect. Starting to see a bit of a pattern here guys. pic.twitter.com/bQJlQGj3lr
— Kenny Loggins: Gamer Zone (@Spartinel) February 24, 2021
How dare you blame a disease thats killed millions for your failed project because of a lack of leadership. How dare you.
— Viktor Bane (@BaneViktor) February 24, 2021
Ok. You are done. Another unfulfilled promise after Andromeda. You launched a half made game and you refuse to fix it, but of course our money is already yours. Very dissapointing.
— Leni: ⚪🐶Me gustan un poco los perros redondos🐶⚪ (@Ochoigualigual) February 24, 2021
This game would’ve been a masterpiece if it was single player, story driven and invested in the lore not the typical good guys vs bad guys story.
— Rino (@RinoTheBouncer) February 24, 2021
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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