BioWare's Anthem Delayed Until 2019

BioWare’s Anthem Delayed Until 2019

BioWare’s Anthem was announced at last year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo with a fall 2018 release window, but studio owner Electronic Arts has pushed it back to early 2019, according to a Kotaku report.

There has been lot of hype surrounding Anthem since its stunning trailer appeared at E3, though experience teaches us that these aren’t always a true reflection of the finished product. Nevertheless, the multi-platform title looks like it has potential, and the 4K visuals are undeniably gorgeous.

It feels like a huge number of games experience delays these days, but BioWare’s devs have reportedly been under extra pressure when it comes to Anthem. The commercial and critical failure of last year’s Mass Effect Andromeda led to parent company Electronic Arts folding Bioware Montreal into the EA Motive Studio. Should Anthem fail to deliver, BioWare’s Edmonton and Austin studios could suffer a similar fate.

The developers were also mindful about perceptions surrounding EA after last holiday season’s launch of Star Wars: Battlefront II and the accompanying controversy over loot boxes. In particular, a pair of Anthem developers were concerned about the way some prominent YouTube personalities have jumped on the game and cast EA as a villain, saying it demoralizes the team.

While BioWare is focused on Anthem at the moment, it has not stopped work on other projects entirely.

Kotaku’s story goes on to say that BioWare has also reevaluated its approach to Dragon Age in light of publishing expectations about games as a service. That, combined with difficulties integrating the Frostbite engine originally built to serve shooters like the Battlefield and Battlefront series, has some in the studio anxious that its fate depends on the success of Anthem and its reception, according to Kotaku.

Anthem, an open-world science-fiction RPG whose characters wear mechanized combat suits and battle monsters in a post-apocalyptic setting, received a splashy premiere during Microsoft’s E3 keynote last June. The next month, however, BioWare’s general manager and Anthem’s director, Aaryn Flynn, resigned from the studio. He was replaced by Casey Hudson, the longtime veteran of Mass Effect development.

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