Anthem Delayed To 2019, New Report Details Development Pressures
A new report with sources close to Anthem's development details growing pressure on those working on the game due to EA's recent troubles and other happenings across the games industry.
Anthem took E3 by storm last year by showing off a beautiful science fiction third-person shooter that teased the connected experience of Destiny with a great deal more freedom to explore. It subsequently surprised onlookers with a release window pointing toward Fall 2018, but it turns out that idea was "never realistic." It also turns out the development team is under a lot of pressure to deliver with Anthem's launch due to EA's troubling rollout of Battlefront II, Mass Effect Andromeda's performance, YouTubers' portrayal of EA as a villain, and more.
The troubling update comes from GamesIndustry.biz via Kotaku's report, a report that attributes the info to three people close to the development of Anthem over at Bioware. EA hasn't given any official comment on the report, but the sources point toward a handful of things influencing Anthem's development currently:
"Beyond time constraints, BioWare developers said they were under greater pressure to deliver with Anthem thanks to a number of other recent events throughout the games industry. For example, the disappointing sales of last year's Mass Effect Andromeda and the subsequent folding of BioWare Montreal into EA Motive had at least one source worried that if Anthem doesn't fulfill EA's expectations that the remaining BioWare studios in Edmonton and Austin, both of which are now focused on Anthem, could be in line for a significant overhaul."
EA's fumbling of loot boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is mentioned as one of the things casting a dark cloud over Anthem and a couple of developers are specifically concerned with how prominent YouTube personalities are framing EA as a villain. No specific YouTubers were mentioned, but two of the most high profile examples of this
We'll update this story as more information is made available but, hopefully, Anthem's potential won't be squandered before it reaches the homes of the players and
-
Shacknews
replyCharles Singletary posted a new article, Anthem Delayed To 2019, New Report Details Development Pressures
-
No, no, please no :(
-
https://qph.ec.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-4f912ac70cc479d6adfe684db25bee6b-c
Looks like this is right around the corner now. -
I didn't even realized they planned to release in Fall 2018. Always assumed it was at least 2019.
-
EA appears to be very good at letting one failure snowball and create more failures instead of taking the time necessary to recover properly
-
EA Where game developers goto DIE!
-
Good. EA/Bioware should be shitting their pants. It was obvious from the start that Anthem was going to be another loot box casino. There is no way EA will get any of my money again.
