This week, EA is reportedly set to make a final decision on whether to continue on with BioWare's troubled multiplayer shooter Anthem... or put an end to development once and for all.
BioWare's Anthem is perhaps one of the most infamous releases of the last few years. Launching in 2019, the sci-fi adventure was almost immediately lambasted for feeling clunky and unfinished, falling far short of the high expectations players had for the experience. In 2020 BioWare promised it would be completely overhauling huge swathes of the game, with the developers referring to it as Anthem 2.0.
Anthem 2.0 would later become known as Anthem Next, but a new report from Bloomberg suggests that EA is insure it wants to give BioWare the budget needed to revamp the game. It's worth noting that Anthem's then-executive producer Christian Dailey, who outlined all of the major plans for the future of the title, has since left the team.
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According to "three people familiar with the matter" EA executives are to review the latest version of Anthem Next and make a call on whether to add more team members or put a bullet in the back of the project's head. Bloomberg explains that the team working on Anthem Next right now is about 30-strong, and the sources at BioWare believe the team would need to "at least triple in size" to put out new content and overhaul the game the way it wants to.
Bloomberg also reached out to EA, but the publisher said that it won't comment on "rumor and speculation"
With Mass Effect 5 and Dragon Age 4 currently in the works at BioWare, it could very well be that EA decides it's time to pull the focus away from Anthem completely. This is purely speculation on my part, of course, but EA is going to have to consider investing further into a game that has already long since damaged BioWare's reputation. While there's every chance the developer could turn things around for Anthem, it's still a gamble - one EA may not be willing to take.
Featured Image Credit: EA