The development of Anthem’s beleaguered multiplayer shooter – also known as “Anthem Next” and “Anthem 2.0” – has officially ended, according to BioWare, and the studio will now focus its efforts on the upcoming Dragon Age and Mass Effect games.
Anthem 2.0 was officially announced last February – just under 12 months after the game’s unstable launch on Xbox One, PS4 and PC – with the goal of improving the underlying experience through more satisfactory withdrawals, better long-term progression and a final game.
“We recognize that there is still more fundamental work to be done to harness the full potential of [Anthem], “BioWare admitted at the time of its 2.0 disclosure,” and will require a more substantial reinvention than an upgrade or expansion “.
Anthem – Cataclysm gameplay trailer.
Since then, a team of around 30 people at BioWare Austin, the studio responsible for Star Wars: The Old Republic, has continued to work on the review project, providing new resources planned for the community along the way. More recently, fans have seen a new and improved withdrawal system, as well as a new Destiny-style user interface.
According Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, EA held a meeting earlier this month to review work on Anthem 2.0 and, ultimately, determine the fate of the project. Following this process, the development team has been informed that it will work on Dragon Age 4.
In an official statement on the BioWare blog, Anthem executive producer Christian Dailey confirmed the news, writing: “In the spirit of transparency and closure, we want to share that we have made the difficult decision to stop our new development work at Anthem.”
It appears that the decision to halt the development of Anthem 2.0, at least in part, stems from the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As Dailey says, “working from home during the pandemic had an impact on our productivity and not everything that we had planned as a studio before COVID-19 can be accomplished without putting undue stress on our teams.”
“Moving forward,” continued Dailey, “we need to focus our efforts as a studio and strengthen the next Dragon Age and Mass Effect titles, while continuing to provide quality updates for Star Wars: The Old Republic.”
“To the Anthem community, thank you for your passion and creativity,” he concluded. “Your comments and suggestions certainly help to define the direction of the team and, on a personal note, your kindness and encouragement were very much needed last year.”
Although Anthem’s long-overdue review is no more, Dailey says the studio will continue to maintain the game’s live service “as it exists today”.